


Vale's Underground

by Snarky_SilverHaired_Sociopath



Category: RWBY
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Drug Dealing, F/F, F/M, Gay Character, Human Trafficking, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, Lesbian Character, M/M, Mild Smut, Name Changes, Organized Crime, Police, Police Procedural, Politics, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Prostitution, Rape, Safer Sex, Sexual Abuse, Sexual Content, Sexual Harassment, Swearing, Torture, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-26
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-05-14 03:46:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 17
Words: 105,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14762013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snarky_SilverHaired_Sociopath/pseuds/Snarky_SilverHaired_Sociopath
Summary: Sergent Rose is one of Vale's best investigators in the Major Crimes Unit. However, her time as an investigator has been plagued by the shadow cast by the criminal organization headed by a woman known only as "Cinder." All at the crossroads of a very important person coming along during such a dangerous time. As Ruby digs deeper into the criminal underworld and all its intricacies, will she be able to come out unscathed and defeat the mysterious "Cinder?"





	1. When All You Want Is Control...

**Author's Note:**

> A new take on an idea that I've had floating around in my head for a few days. I decided to finally take some time to plan things out. I'll be including some notes to explain things at the end of every chapter that might not be explained in the story. I hope you all enjoy it and, without further ado, here's _Vale's Underground_.

_I can't say that things in this city have always been perfect. This is Vale. A place where mob activity runs wild and corruption can be found even at the highest of places. It's ugly, but… it's a place I call home. And I'm gonna do everything I can to protect it. My name's Sergeant Ruby Rose, Major crimes detective. I've been working on the force for years trying to track down the bad guys. It's not always exciting and glamorous as the cop shows will tell you, but I wouldn't trade it for anything._

_Especially when my beautiful wife, Detective Blake Belladonna from the homicide unit, can be around me at any time of day. It's a dangerous job and we both worry when one of us will be taken out, but I like to think of that as the thrill of the job. If we're not out there protecting this city, who will. We're even closing in on some of the biggest players in the organized crime business. A mysterious benefactor who was known only as "Cinder." An alias most likely, but it's all we've got. They call her that because she has a habit of lighting people on fire when she wants to send a message. They say she was a pyro, but I doubt that. I think she's just a sadist._

_But the fact that no one can get her real name is troubling. We've got names on all the other big players, but she's a blank. Impressive in this day and age when everything about us is recorded and kept on record. Unless you were born homeless, you've got records that can be found. Cracking this case would be a dream-come-true. Every cop in Major Crimes wants to be the one to bust her. Cinder better watch her back because you're about to face the wrath of…_

"Sergeant Rose!" Ruby was taken out of her trance thinking about the end of the Cinder's criminal empire. "Commissioner Ozpin wants a word with you," the officer told her. She rose from her chair and made her way to Ozpin's office. _Well, that's how I like to see it. No harm in being positive._

Ruby knocked on the Commissioner's office door. "Come in," he called out. She opened the door to see the white-haired man adjusting his spectacles. "Ah, yes. Sergeant Rose. Take a seat."

She did just that. "Is there a problem, Commissioner?" she inquired.

"Not inherently, but this is about the Cinder case."

Oh, no. "Sir, I'm telling you that we're trying our best, but this Cinder character is elusive. We know where she operates in Vale. It shouldn't be hard to find her."

"Then why haven't you?" She didn't have a response to that. She had to admit since they knew where she was, they should have gotten some evidence on her by now. "Look, I don't doubt your abilities as a detective, but you need to consider looking into new leads. Maybe look into the other bosses. At least we know their names."

"You know what will happen. Cinder's just going to consolidate their assets as soon as we arrest them. She's a vulture, preying on the backs of others. As much as I'd like to get every single one of them out as soon as possible, letting Cinder continue to grow will be an issue. The competition will be the only thing that keeps her in check. We can't risk her getting more unchecked power."

"You know damn well that I don't want that to happen, but at a certain point, things aren't getting any closer."

"We can at least track them through the hits she has ordered."

"Allegedly."

"You know it was her, sir!" Ozpin was taken aback by the sudden outburst. She backed down and adjusted her tone. "Detective Belladonna has found several bodies of people that were connected to the operation. Several. That isn't nothing."

"I wish that were true, Rose, but it's not enough for a conviction or getting a name. So, why don't you put this away for now."

"With all due respect, sir, not a chance."

"Would that be disobeying a direct order?"

"I would like to consider it a dedication to the job I was called to do." He sighed and looked out his window. "Commissioner, is there something else that you called me here for?"

He hesitated before responding. "Mayor Ironwood is wanting to have resources directed to the protection of a certain guest. He doesn't want all of this organized crime business tainting the image of the city."

"Who is this guest?"

Ozpin turned back before saying, "Do you know about Weiss Schnee?"

Ruby's eyes furrowed. "The billionaire pop star?"

"She wanted to start opening up business in this city and we don't need the mob activity tainting her view of it."

 _Of course, it was a political move. Bureaucracy getting in the way of my hard work._ She stood up and asserted, "I'll say this. I'd rather not be working to advance whatever political agenda the mayor wants to push, so I'll keep working on the Cinder case, thank you very much."

"You think I want to be working for that pompous politician? I'm just doing what I'm told to keep my job." Discontent could be heard in his voice. "And I suggest you do the same, Sergeant."

It wasn't the first time she was faced with a choice like this, and it likely wouldn't be the last. However, she still chose to pursue the case whenever she could. If she didn't go after it, who would? Almost everyone else had given up on the search, but not her. She wanted to keep going no matter what.

* * *

Three workers tried to carry a shipment of cash to a safe house. Their leader, Robert, was contracted to deliver money for Cinder, but he didn't like working for her anymore. So, he made a bold move to try and take some money for himself. They had been chased halfway through Vale before finally making it back to the safehouse, but it was a close call. "Do you think we lost them?" one of them inquired.

"I think so," Robert replied. "Those assholes won't ever know what hit them."

"This is fucking crazy, Rob," the other added. "You're trying to steal from Cinder of all people? You know that she'll kill you!"

"Don't be a bunch of pussies. She's nothing. Besides, she's been ripping us off from the start. We do all the grunt work and she gets the largest cut of all of it? Not a chance."

"Are you really gonna risk getting killed for this? I mean, you've done some crazy shit, but this is downright suicidal."

"That's only because you have no faith in our potential. That bitch has been takin' over for too long. I'm not letting her take control of me anymore."

"You sure about that?"

Robert brushed it off. "I don't wanna worry about it because right now…" He opened the box and showed off the several bundles of cash in their bag. "…we've got at least two million in this bag. That's a good haul."

"Two million of Cinder's money, dipshit. I'm not taking part in this. You wanna get barbecued, that's on you. I'm out of this."

As the man tried to walk away, Robert pulled out a gun and pointed it at the man. "You're already in this! So, don't even try to pretend that you have no fucking part in this! Don't you wanna get rich?! You stick with me and that'll happen."

As his smug smile grew, his gun-wielding hand was shot, dropping the gun as Robert screamed in pain. "Fat chance of that," a voice said before two more shots went through the accomplices' heads. Robert panicked and tried to scramble for his gun, but his hand was shot again before the gun was kicked away. As he cursed under his breath, the owner of the voice was none other than the smug-faced mercenary, Mercury Black. His shit-eating grin rivaled even Robert's. "You are one dumbass motherfucker."

"You son of a bitch!"

"Name-calling will get you nowhere, buddy." Mercury shrugged and added, "Well, nowhere except a personal meeting with Cinder." Robert's eyes widened in shock as he heard that. He knew Cinder would have no mercy on him.

"L- look, man. This was just a stupid misunderstanding."

"Stupid? Definitely. Misunderstanding? Not a chance. Get up and get moving. Unless you want me blowing off more of your fingers." He pointed his gun at Robert as he pulled out his phone to call someone. "Got two bodies for you to take care of. I'll be heading to Cinder's place in a few minutes." Robert enacted this plan thinking he was going to get rich. Now, he was thinking he made the worst (and possibly last) mistake of his life.

* * *

Ruby turned on the television and saw Lisa Lavender on the news. "Big news as the massively famous singer and businesswoman, Weiss Schnee, is coming to Vale. You may know her from her most notable appearance during the Vytal Festival concert where she blew away the crowd. From there, she built a massive empire around her career and became the richest woman in the world and one of the richest people in the world."

Ruby saw the woman with white hair who dressed like a princess. Almost seems appropriate for how she carries herself. "She's currently engaged to a fellow pop singer, Neptune Vasillias, and has noted that she will be marrying him later. She says she chooses to keep her name for her business ties, but how her legal name will be changed is up for debate." She saw the blue-haired man interlocking arms with her as they walked out of a hotel with paparazzi surrounding them. "But that is a while away. For now, Mayor Ironwood has invited Schnee back to Vale to start up businesses in the city and to perform a concert. Tickets are on sale now and –"

The TV was shut off and Ruby looked up to see her wife holding the remote. "I didn't think I'd catch you slacking off on the job, Sergeant Rose," Blake remarked. She smiled at her wife and kissed her on the cheek.

Ruby returned that smile. "Hello, Detective Belladonna," she replied.

"What did Ozpin want from you?"

Ruby sighed. "He wants me off the Cinder case because this Schnee chick is coming to the city."

"Well, mob activity wouldn't make people want to come here. I'm pretty sure Ozpin would cut my job for the time being if he could. Unfortunately, dead bodies can't really be covered up that well. No matter how hard the mob will try." Ruby smiled. "Don't worry about that shit, Rubes. You keep being the best major crimes detective you can be. Cinder should be running scared by now."

"Damn right. Just keep sending me any bodies you find connected to her. I know we can get close."

"Will do."

"Hey, by the way, have you noticed anything different around here?"

"What's that?"

"No one getting sexually harassed today."

Blake laughed and knew exactly what she meant. "Oh, right. I almost didn't notice Officer Winchester isn't here today."

"My guess is he's probably paying off some hookers in a back alley."

"It's the only way any woman would willingly touch his dick." Both women laughed at the joke.

Honestly, it was a massive relief that he wasn't here today. He wasn't well-liked in the Vale police station for a number of reasons. From the aforementioned sexual harassment to the general bully-like attitude he had around others. Ozpin considered firing him a while back, but he was short on staff and he was still one of the better cops. Not better as a person, but he was capable.

"Alright, Ruby. I've gotta go for now, but hopefully, we can have a special night tonight." Blake winked, and Ruby knew exactly what she meant. She was absolutely looking forward to it. Ruby sighed blissfully as the woman walked away, and she couldn't help but keep an eye on her hips walking away. _I love my wife…_

* * *

Cinder was a beautiful woman. Her amber colored eyes reflected her preference for fire. However, it contrasted her normally cool demeanor. She was the kind of person who could cut your throat open slowly, look you in the eye, and not even bat an eyelash. She was powerful. She had immense influence in Vale. All helped by the fact that no one knew her real name. Cinder made sure no one would ever figure it out. Not even the police. It cost a lot of time and money, but she could safely say that it was a worthwhile investment.

Unlike the money-man, Robert, who she had recently hired. She was going to make him suffer for his insolence. She waited behind her desk for Mercury to bring her the traitor. With her was her dark-skinned assistant, Emerald Sustrai. She was a valuable asset to her operation. A devoted worker whose loyalty was never shaken. Something that was rather rare in this business. So, she kept her around to do some menial tasks.

"Uh, Cinder?" Emerald sheepishly asked. "Would you like me to do anything for you right now? Anything at all?" She was also an eager worker. Something that was even rarer to find even with enough money to pay them.

Cinder smiled and said, "Nothing yet. Don't worry your little head."

Suddenly, Mercury entered with the traitor and two guards. "Look what I got, boss." He threw Robert onto the floor with a bloody, bandaged hand.

Cinder moved from behind her desk menacingly. "Look at what we have here. The perfect example of what hubris and excessive idiocy can lead to." She got down to Robert's level. "You didn't really think you could steal from me, did you?"

"What?!" Robert asked, trying to sound innocent and failing. "Of course, I wasn't! I wasn't stealing from you."

That earned him a kick to the face. Cinder scowled at him. "Don't try to bullshit me. I know exactly what you were trying to do the moment you were trying to escape the escorts that I provided you." She gently held his chin up to look into his eyes. "Did you really think I'm that ignorant, little boy?"

"Please! I'm sorry! It won't happen again! I promise!"

"Oh, I know it won't." She grabbed his injured hand and crushed it. Emerald winced at her brutal nature, but she knew that this was hardly the worst of it. Mercury only smiled at it. "I'll make absolutely sure of that." Cinder rose and went back to her desk, opening one of the drawers. "Guards, keep your guns on this little bastard." She pulled out a wad of cash and tossed it to Mercury. "By yourself something nice. You've earned it, unlike some people."

Mercury winked as he walked out of the room. "Pleasure doing business with you." Emerald knew what the wink was for. Everyone knew that she and Mercury were having an affair. It disappointed her slightly to know that he was with Cinder when she couldn't be with her. However, for now, Cinder had her focus on other desires. Such as a thirst for violence. As controlled as she could be, she was a maniac when it came to vengeance.

Unfortunately for Robert, he got caught on the wrong end of Cinder's rage. Fire lit up in her eyes as she loomed over the cowering man. Her fists clenched, and she started beating him up with nothing more than her bare hands. She was never afraid to get her hands dirty. She loved to feel a man's bones breaking as she beat someone into a pulp. Feeling Robert's jaw dislocating was almost euphoric for her. Blood started to coat her fingers as she started cracking his ribs.

After beating him half to death, she rose above the whimpering man struggling to breathe through punctured lungs. Cinder smirked as she sensually licked the blood from her fingers. "I'm not done with you yet," she stated. "Boys, take him to the basement, and make sure he stays alive for long enough." The two burly men pulled him up and carried him away. Emerald looked on with concern as Cinder cleaned off her hands with a towel and pulled out a box of matches.

* * *

Sex workers were legal in Vale and even regulated by the government. It made things much safer for the people in this industry. Even when things went wrong, sex workers didn't have to worry about being arrested if they were attacked. People didn't frown upon their work since there were several politicians who were former sex workers. If someone decided to get into that industry, it wouldn't be something that would haunt them for life. Even though there were some, even among those who used the services, who still had a bit of a backward opinion. Thankfully, that was in the minority.

One such worker was Yang Xiao Long. She had been in the business for years and wasn't particularly looking for a new job anywhere else, even though she did have some options. While the clients weren't always desirable (and sometimes downright repulsive), she knew how to roll with things. It was helpful when sex work was legalized. She never had a shortage of customers. Her E-cup breasts helped a lot with that. (A gift form her father's side of the family surprisingly enough.) Still, she knew how to fight if things got tough.

Such as tonight when a man tried to demand more out of her without having the money. "You fucking whore!" he shouted at her as she pushed him out of the room. "I've already paid you a shitload of money."

Yang shoved him onto the ground as he tried to pull his pants up. "You know the rules. Blowjobs go for extra. If you wanted it, you should've paid for it!"

"Fucking bitch!" he yelled as he stumbled away. She flipped him off as he left.

She was about to go inside to get dressed again, but she heard another voice. "Still catering to the most pathetic members of society?" She turned around and saw Mercury approaching. He was one of Yang's regular customers. He always had more than enough money to pay for a whole night if he wanted. It didn't hurt that he was probably the hottest customer she had.

"Well, well, well," Yang greeted him. "Look who's come crawling back. Long time, no see, Merc. What've you been up to, gorgeous?"

"You know I can't tell you that."

He went in for a kiss, but Yang stopped him. Mercury gave an exasperated sigh. "You know the rules, buddy."

"You know you love me. Besides, you know I'm always good to pay."

She chuckled, "Still, rules are rules." He pulled out his wad of cash to pay her. "And now we're in business." She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him as she pulled him into her room. She rubbed his crotch as she felt his erection growing. "You got a condom?"

"Always." He pulled one out of his pocket and handed it to her as he pulled down his pants. "What was all that about earlier?"

"Some asshole trying to get extra. You know how it is." She held up the condom to the light. When she was sure it wasn't punctured (some guys would do that, and she's had to kick people out for this before), she opened it up and rolled it on.

"You'd think since they're so desperate that they'd have to pay for this that they'd be happy with what they can get."

"Grateful, they are not." As she started blowing him, he got a text from Cinder. He wasn't happy with the interruption, but he checked it anyway.

 **Cinder:** Got a body you'll need to take care of.  
**Mercury:** Can it wait? I'm in the middle of someone.  
**Cinder:** Don't you mean "something"?  
**Mercury:** Nope. ;)  
**Cinder:** smh. Very well. Just get it done when you can.

He tossed the phone onto the nightstand just before picking Yang up and tossing her onto the bed. "Now," he began, "it's time for me to get my money's worth."

"With how much money you're giving me, take all the time you need," she replied with a smirk. He returned a smile as he penetrated her. He was never all too gentle, but she never really cared that much. He knew how to pleasure her. She once jokingly said that if she'd give him a discount for every orgasm he gave her, but if she really did, she wouldn't be making as much money off him as she did. "Fuck me hard and deep, Mercury," she moaned. He was the only customer that she didn't have to fake moan for him like a porn-star. It was all real.

He sucked on her nipples hard as he complied with her request. "You know, I always thought these were your best features."

"You and everyone else."

"Can you blame them, though?" He chuckled as he kept going. It was nights like this that Yang fully enjoyed her job.

* * *

Cinder took Robert out to an abandoned warehouse where she took care of most of her hits. She took a canister of kerosene and doused the delirious Robert in it. He tried to beg for mercy through a broken mandible, but he had no such luck even getting intelligible words out. Even if he did, he wouldn't be getting mercy from her. He was about to know exactly why they gave her the name "Cinder."

She took one match with a smile as Robert sobbed pathetically. She struck the match and dropped it in the puddle at his feet. He screamed in pain as the flames started to rise, and she only looked on with a deranged smirk and a disturbing glint in her eye. It was magnificent to her to see someone writhe in agony as they futilely attempted to escape.

* * *

Ruby and Blake returned home after a long shift and immediately started peeling off their clothes as they headed straight for their bedroom. "So, do you think the mayor is gonna get in the way of your investigation?" Blake asked.

"I hope not," Ruby replied, "but I've got a bad feeling that he'll try. Ugh. This is getting frustrating."

"Well…" As Blake slowly removed her underwear with an alluring look in her eye. "…I think that you can take your mind off it for now and focus on… other things."

Ruby looked up at her raven-haired wife as she looked at her amazing body. Yeah, that's my wife. "What did I ever do to deserve you?" She removed the rest of her own clothing with a smile as she followed Blake to the shower.

Blake turned on the water and turned around to find Ruby standing behind her. The shorter woman wrapped her arms around her wife and grabbed her butt almost immediately. Blake looked down at Ruby biting her lip. "You're eager."

Ruby giggled. "You were right. I do need to take my mind off things." She reached up and kissed her as her hands went through Blake's soaking hair. "Do I get to wash you first, please?"

"Well, since you asked so nicely." Ruby immediately grabbed a washrag and poured some soap onto it. She let the rag soak and started scrubbing her thoroughly, making sure not to miss a single square inch of her perfect skin. She took special attention to Blakes hips (her favorite part of Blake's body other than her beautiful face). As soon as Ruby finished, Blake said, "My turn," before grabbing another cloth and putting some soap on it. "Turn around, darling."

Ruby couldn't help but smile as she turned around for Blake. She gave Ruby the same treatment, not forgetting any single part of her, but near the end, she stopped between Ruby's legs. Her breath hitched as she felt Blake's fingers work. "Something extra for me?"

"I think you've earned it." She kissed Ruby's neck as she kept going. Yeah, this is my wife. Tomorrow may end up being chaotic and miserable, but they at least enjoyed the rest of their evening together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **FUN FACTS:**  
>  * Ruby is around her late-twenties in this story with Blake being a couple of years older like in canon. (I haven't decided on any definite ages, so I'm only providing a guess for now.)  
> * If you didn't notice, Cardin is a cop. It was one offhand reference, but he'll be showing up later.  
> * Weiss is actually somewhat younger than Ruby, but she made her fortune as a singer (We know she can sing in canon.) and moved on to make a successful business empire out of it, ala the Kardashians (except with a little more class ~~not apologizing~~ ).  
> * Yang isn't actually related to Ruby in this fic. They don't even know each other so far. Yang is about the same age as Ruby.  
> * Yeah, "Cinder" isn't her legal name in this fic; it's only a nickname. I'm not revealing the name quite yet, so you'll have to wait for that.  
> * Mercury does have an affair with Cinder, but he goes to Yang on the side when she's not in the mood (which is quite often).  
> * Emerald's hair isn't green. That's just how it is. I wanted to change that.
> 
> Those are all the relevant pieces of information that I can give you right now. I hope that you look forward to what I have in store for this story. As always, comment and let me know what you think of it. (I always look forward to reading them. Even if I don't respond, know that I did see it.) Even if you hated it, I encourage some commentary.


	2. Steps in the Right Direction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get more complicated when a body is found hanging from a tree.

Blake went with her partner, Detective Sun Wukong, to investigate a dead body that was discovered this morning. Sun had been her partner for nearly two years now, and they became rather close friends. Blake kinda thought he acted like a gym-bro, but he was a nice guy. He cared about his comrades and was a respectable officer. You really can’t ask for more.

Right now, they had to get to the crime-scene past the flood of onlookers who were crowding the place. “Police officers!” Blake yelled as she held up her badge. “Out of the way, people!” When she got past everyone, she saw the body hanging from a tree covered in a tarp. They saw the burned feet peeking out from under the tarp. Both she and Sun weren’t surprised by this. They had seen much worse. “Holy shit… Looks like it’ll be a hell of a day for the morgue.”

“No kidding. Who’s fucked up enough to do something like this?”

As they approached the body, Blake answered, “Well, if Sergeant Rose has anything to say about this, best guess is Cinder. Although, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was some other random pyro out there.”

“How many do you know of? Even if we’re looking at the work of a pyro, they’re usually arsonists. Not outright murdering people. This has Cinder written all over it.”

Blake sighed. “Good point. Let’s just get this thing back to the morgue and see if we can get an ID on it.” They walked up to one of the field forensic officers and Blake asked, “Who’s the one who found this thing?”

“She’s over there,” he replied, pointing at the witness.

As soon as they saw her, Blake had a sinking feeling. The person who found it was none other than Weiss Schnee. She was holding her nose to block out the smell and was standing with her assistant, a middle-aged blond woman with her hair in a bun. _Oh, great_ , Blake thought. _Ironwood is gonna have a cow over this._ He was already concerned about mob activity tarnishing the city’s reputation in the wake of her visit, but now she was the one to find a body was likely connected to the most prominent boss in Vale.

“Dude, is that the Weiss Schnee?” Sun asked excitedly.

“I believe it is,” Blake replied. “What? Are you a fan?”

“Well, I mean, it’s not every day that you get to meet a celebrity.”

Blake shook her head with a smirk. “Well, then why don’t you go ask her a few questions?”

“For real?”

“As long as you’re not gonna make an ass of yourself.”

“I won’t let you down.” Sun walked over to Weiss as Blake continued to examine the body. “Excuse me. I’m Detective Wukong of the Vale Police Department. I got some information that you were the first on the scene.”

“As I told your other officers when they got here,” she abrasively replied. “What more could you possibly ask me?”

“Calm down. I know this can be a bit traumatizing, but I’m a detective. I just need to ask some questions.”

Weiss gave an exasperated sigh. “Very well. Ask your questions.”

“Thank you. Now, I’d like to ask you when exactly you found the body.”

The assistant answered in her place. “It was about 7:39 A.M. We were on our way to the Mayor’s office to discuss the new business startups in the city.”

“I’m sorry if this sounds rude, but who would you happen to be?”

“I’m Miss Schnee’s personal assistant, Glynda Goodridge. I was with her in the limo when she witnessed this.”

“And for the record,” Weiss added, “I didn’t need you to answer for me.”

Glynda hung her head down, ashamed that she had disappointed her employer. “My apologies, Miss Schnee.”

Sun moved on from the awkward moment and continued his questioning. “Did you happen to see anyone around the body when you passed by?”

Weiss tried to recall what happened. “I think there was someone dressed in black walking away, but I never got a good look at them as they left. For all I know, they were just walking by. Even if they weren’t, I wouldn’t be able to tell you anything about them.”

“So, you just saw the body covered in cloth on the way here and just barely saw someone walking away from it.”

"That's all."

"And you didn't disturb the body at all?"

"Why would I wanna touch that thing?"

"Just making sure. Well, you'll have to be taken in for an official statement regarding that possible suspect."

She rolled her eyes. "Fine. Glynda, call Ironwood and tell him we'll be behind."

"Yes, ma'am," Glynda replied.

"By the way," Sun continued. "I just have to say that I'm a huge fan. Loved all your albums." Weiss only nodded as she walked away. She returned to her limo with her assistant as Sun went back to Blake. "Well, it seems like she might've seen a suspect. Try and ask around and see if anyone else saw the guy."

"You think it'll really help?" Blake inquired.

"Maybe not. She didn't give us a very helpful description."

"One thing's for sure. I know the wife is gonna love this. She's been wanting to find another Cinder victim. Hopefully, this was just some scumbag that made the mistake of pissing her off and not anyone innocent." Sun nodded in agreement. "By the way, how'd it feel to meet Weiss Schnee?"

"Well, I told her I was a fan."

"Before or after the question?"

"After! I'm a professional, thank you very much." Blake chuckled as they went back to work.

 

Weiss and Glynda went in the backseat of the limo. "Follow the police officer to the station," Glynda told the driver. She then called Ironwood to inform him of what happened. "Mayor Ironwood, I don't know if you've seen the news, but we'll be a bit late." Weiss barely paid attention to her conversation as she looked out the window. As Glynda hung up, she took out a cloth to wipe her glasses. "Doesn't seem like the mayor was too pleased with the delay. Honestly. If this is the kind of city that has dead bodies being left out for people, then I'm not sure we should be doing business here."

"We're still moving forward with it, Glynda," Weiss replied. "There's no stopping that."

"They said there were mobsters here. I don't think I want you to be caught up anywhere near that sort of thing. What if you're the one who gets killed."

"I would be more valuable to someone alive than dead, and you know I'm insured for ransom."

Glynda crossed her arms. "It still troubles me that you actually decided to get insurance for that. It's almost as if you want to be caught by someone."

"You know how it is. I wanted to stop getting followed around with a bodyguard on my back. If I'm going out on my own, anything could happen."

"Like getting stabbed by a crackhead."

"You worry too much, Glynda."

Glynda sighed, annoyed that Weiss could be so dismissive of the possibilities. "I should let you know that Mr. Vasilias called again."

"I'll get to him later."

"Are you sure you still want to go ahead with the marriage?"

"Neptune's a fine man."

Glynda muttered under her breath, "I don't think it's a man that you'd be interested in."

This enraged Weiss. "What do you want me to say, Glynda?!"

"I just want to know how long you're going to keep this up."

"As long as it takes."

"You haven't had sex with him, have you?"

"Only once."

It almost made Glynda sad. "And you still –"

"Can we please discuss this some other time?" she snapped. "We have more important things to take care of."

Glynda sighed again. "Very well, Miss Schnee." They sat in silence for the rest of the ride.

* * *

Cinder sat in front of the television as she watched the news reports. She kept her cold glare on the screen as she waited for Mercury to come back to work. She had a few things to say about his presentation of the body. She heard a knock on the door and knew that it was him. "Come in," she said.

Mercury entered the room as he looked at the news. "Oh, I guess you're pleased with my handiwork."

"'Pleased' is a bit presumptuous of you." She shut off the TV. "You put that in quite a public place."

"Sending a message, right?" He walked around near the desk.

"Not to the police. The only message you'll be sending to them is that we wanna get caught. If you keep doing shit like this, people will catch on."

"I'm good at my job and you know that. Might I remind you that his accomplices have still not been found? They only find bodies that I want them to find."

"Do you think he has dental records on file?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, my inside agent in the precinct told me that Rose is still hard on the case. She might find a connection there and I do not need her tracking me down. We've had too many close calls in the past. She just needs his identity and she'll have another puzzle piece." Soon, she realized that Mercury was slowly making his way behind her chair. She knew where this was going.

"I don't think you need to be worried about that, Cindy."

Cinder shot out of her chair and glared at him. "Don't call me that."

Mercury pushed the chair out of the way and moved closer. "And what are you gonna do about it?" He smirked as he approached her because she knew what he was trying to do, and he knew she couldn't resist.

"You really wanna do this right here and now?" She returned the flirtatious look in her eyes.

Mercury suddenly spun her around and bent her over the desk while hiking up her skirt. "What do you think?" He unbuckled his belt as he removed her panties.

She chuckled. "Then just fuck me already."

"With pleasure." He pulled out his erection and prepared to penetrate her. He thrust his hips so roughly that everything on the desk started shaking. Cinder bit her lip as she gripped the edge of the desk. She grunted with every thrust as he smugly smiled, gripping her thighs harder.

He even pulled her hair as he went faster. "Oh, fuck! Not too hard, Merc." Though, the smile on her face said a different story. She liked it when he pushed some boundaries. However, they were interrupted by a knock on the door. Cinder groaned with frustration, and Mercury shared this frustration. "In a minute!"

"It's rather important," Emerald said from the other side of the door.

She sighed as she pushed him away. "Wait!" She found her panties and pulled them up as she turned around. "Want me to suck you off before I go? I promise we'll get things done later."

"Fine by me." She got down on her knees to fellate him. "You know, most people wouldn't have a boss willing to suck your dick."

She smirked. "Don't act so smug. You'll be returning the favor later." Mercury smiled as he placed her hands on either side of her head.

After they were finished, Cinder exited the room as she met with Emerald. She knew what was happening in there, but she tried to ignore it. "What's happening?" Cinder asked.

"Torchwick and Taurus want a meeting," Emerald replied. "They have some problems with how you've been running things recently."

"Torchwick always has problems. If he wants to bitch about things, he can call."

"But Taurus is threatening war, he's not happy. Especially with that Schnee chick coming to down. She already found one of the bodies."

"I don't have time to be worried about some bitchy popstar. There's nothing she could possibly do to disturb my business. If she does, Mercury can take her out. No problem."

"Still, don't you think that they could threaten war? It's a dangerous thing."

Cinder rubbed Emerald's dark hair with a smile. "You worry too much. If things become problematic, then I'll call them in for a chat. For now, just leave it be. Those idiots aren't a concern to me. And their problems aren't of my concern either."

* * *

Ruby sat at her desk waiting for Blake to return with the body. She filled out piles of paperwork and it was the most loathed part of the job. It was something that needed to be done. However, she had to do it.

Something she didn't have to deal with was what was going to happen next. She felt two hands on her shoulders and knew exactly who they belonged to as soon as he opened his mouth. "How's it going, beautiful?" Cardin said. She could tell that he had his shit-eating grin. "You know, I'm still available."

She pushed his arms off her shoulders. "And I told you, I'm not."

"Who cares? She doesn't have to know."

"Winchester, what will it take for you to realize that I'm not interested in guys?"

He leaned in and whispered in her ear. "How are you sure? All you need is a good dick to change your mind."

"That's actually a good idea!" she said enthusiastically.

Cardin smirked. "I knew you'd agree."

"Yeah, definitely. Do you know anyone who can give me a good dick? I'm sure you know the best places to get some." Her patronizing smile was all he needed to know he got shut down again. "Now, go do something productive with your worthless life. I'm already doing paperwork and I don't need the experience to be even more unbearable."

"Or else what?"

"Or else…" he heard a voice say. He turned around and saw Ruby's partner, Lie Ren. "…you'll have to deal with me."

He only sneered at him. "What? You think your little white-knight act will help you get in her pants?"

"I'd still have a better chance than you." Cardin just growled. "Don't make this ugly, Winchester. Leave Rose alone."

He had no choice but to leave it alone. He wasn't going to deal with another sexual harassment complaint. He stormed off and yelled, "You'll change your mind, you fucking dyke."

Ruby smiled at Ren and said, "Thanks for the help, Ren."

"Any time," he replied.

As Ruby continued, she was interrupted once again by something more favorable, her wife. She returned with her partner, Sun. "Hello, detective. Have you got something good?"

"Well, and this sentence has never made sense before," Blake began, "the charred corpse looks promising."

"It has Cinder written all over it. Ozpin can't ignore this now."

"This is ridiculous!" they heard. They turned around and saw Ozpin following Ironwood through the precinct, furious. "How did Schnee find a body in the city?!"

"Ironwood," Ozpin began, "I assure you this will not be a problem."

"Not a problem?! She is going to leave the city if she thinks it's dangerous! And now, you have her brought in for questioning?!"

"It's a witness statement, James! She thinks she saw the suspect –"

"Oh, that's even better. She saw the maniac who did this. Get this cleaned up, Victor. I won't have these mob fools ruining our chance to get more tax money and publicity that she could get for this city. And might I remind you that some of that money goes to your police force. So, I would say that you don't wanna blow this."

As Ironwood stormed off, Ozpin turned to the three officers with a stern expression. "I told you to stop this investigation. Now I've got Ironwood riding my ass about this."

"To be fair," Blake noted, "it's not like we planned on having a body put out for everyone to see."

He pinched the bridge of his nose and adjusted his glasses. "Very well. Just pray that this doesn't affect Schnee's decision or else the mayor will never let me hear the end of it. And if I don't hear the end of it, none of you will either."

"I mean, if we catch Cinder while Schnee is here," Ruby noted, "that would be some good PR for all of us."

Sun added, "She's got a point. What could be better for Vale's image than taking out the city's biggest mob boss?"

Ozpin didn't bother replying to the question and said, "Just handle it. I'm going to be in my office." He walked away from the group of officers.

"Anyways," Blake began, "after we get an ID on the body, this should help. We just need to go through the dental records."

"I hope it gets something," Ruby said. "Tracking drug trafficking movements isn't really helping much. We need something concrete."

"If anyone can find it, it would be you." She kissed Ruby on the cheek. "We'll let you know if something's up but try not to make a problem out of it for Irondick." They all laughed at the name as Sun and Blake left Ruby and Ren's desks.

* * *

Pyrrha Nikos was another sex worker who knew Yang quite well. They lived together and escorted each other home for safety. She was not as abrasive as Yang, but she was still not someone to aggravate. She could defend herself if someone was too unruly. She needed money to help move out of Vale for good. She was worried about the mob activity happening, but she spent two years getting enough money to sustain herself. She didn't enjoy it as much as Yang. She only needed to get by.

However, Pyrrha had one regular customer that always made her day worthwhile, and he just knocked on the door. She opened it and saw the young man, Jaune Arc. He was still nineteen, but he was still nervous around girls. His friends recommended that he saw a sex worker, saying that it would help make him more comfortable. He wasn't really sure about it, but Pyrrha was the only one who was willing to be patient with him. Something about him made her feel so good, but she knew he didn't really feel the same way.

"Hey, Pyrrha," he stuttered. She loved how awkward he was.

She giggled as she pulled him into the room. "Hello, Jaune," she said. "I'm glad to see you."

"Thanks." He rubbed the back of his head nervously. "I, uh… I'm sorry, but I don't have enough for today." He put 250 dollars on the nightstand. "I don't know if it'll be enough. I'm sorry."

She was always forgiving. He almost never paid full price for her services, and she allowed it hoping he would catch on. "Don't worry about it, Jaune. I understand that you don't always have the money."

"Are you sure? I mean, I haven't really paid full price that many times. I feel like it's a kinda ripping you off."

"Don't worry. You're young. I understand that you probably won't be making that much money."

"I've been trying though. I got a job a while ago to help pay you for everything."

She held his hands gently and said, "Jaune, don't worry. It's fine." He nodded meekly as he looked down at his feet. "Why don't we just get started, okay?" She unbuckled his pants and already saw the erection he had. She took out a condom and rolled it on just before taking her own clothes off.

"I don't know why I'm doing this." He buried his face in his hands. "It's not gonna help me. I don't know why I let my friends talk me into this."

"We can just sit and talk if sex makes you uncomfortable."

Jaune sighed. "I… I still want to, but I'm just –"

She offered him a warm smile. "Don't be so nervous. Do you want me to take the lead?" He nodded. She sat him down on the edge of the bed. She positioned herself over him and started to ride him as she held on to him. He moaned louder as she picked up the pace. However, he didn't last long before cumming. It wasn't the first time this happened and it likely wouldn't be the last.

"I'm really sorry! I- I just get so nervous," he stuttered.

"It's fine, Jaune. We can go again in a little bit." She got off his lap and went to one of the drawers. "I'll get a new condom for you."

His face was red with embarrassment as he pulled off the used condom. "I guess this is why no girl would wanna sleep with me."

"Don't be like that. I think you're a nice guy that any girl would be lucky to have."

"You really think so?"

"Absolutely."

He sighed. "I wish I had a chance with Weiss Schnee. I heard she was in town." Pyrrha's heart sank when she heard that. "If only she wasn't marrying that Neptune guy."

Pyrrha swallowed her annoyance and admitted, "I would pick you over Neptune any day… and so should Weiss. She'd love you."

His smile lit up the room and made Pyrrha's heart race every time she saw it. "You always know what to say, Pyrrha."

She gave a smile hiding the sadness behind it. _If only I wasn't just a sex worker for Jaune_ , she thought. _Maybe he'd see me as more._ "Jaune… what do you think of me?"

Jaune was caught by surprise about this question. "What do you mean?"

"What do you see me as?"

"Well… I do think you're a good person. Nicer than a lot of the other workers have been to me."

"But what if… there was this guy that I was in love with… but certain things made it difficult for me to tell him?"

"If this guy knows better, he'd love to be with you." Just like that, Pyrrha's spirits were lifted again. She couldn't help but smile. "Who is the guy you're thinking about."

"Uh… well, he…" She wanted to tell him right now, but something held her back. "You know, maybe we shouldn't be discussing my personal life."

* * *

As Ren completed his share of the paperwork, Ruby ran in with a huge grin on her face. "We got something!" Ren looked up as Ruby slammed the folder on her desk. "No ID on the body yet, but two associates of Adam Taurus were seen associating with two known workers for Cinder's gang. Check it out."

She opened up the folder for Ren to see and it revealed several photos of the thugs conversing. She began to explain, "So, you know that we have Russel Thrush, Dave Bronzewing, and Sky Lark. These guys are all on Taurus' payroll. These three here that they're talking to are Robert Swift, Jacob Jackson, and Steven Cade. They have been known to help launder money for Cinder."

"So, you think they might be collaborating?" Ren deduced.

"Possibly. Maybe it's a deal or they're just shooting the breeze and about to go have a couple beers. Either way, these guys could be our ticket to getting to Cinder. We get something through them and connect Taurus' operation to her, we might be able to get something. It's a long shot, but at this point, it's the best we've got."

"Well, if anything could help us out, these assholes would be it. So, what are we gonna do to make them talk?"

"Obviously we can't arrest them now, but we could try to tail them and see if they contact anyone else who works for Cinder or if they just commit a crime. That'll be enough to bust them. At that point, we take them in for questioning and hopefully, they'll be spilling more guts than a fish getting ready to be fried."

Ren creased his eyebrows and said, "That's a rather odd metaphor."

"I mean, I would've said, 'They'll be singing like a canary,' but that felt a little cliché."

As she shrugged, Ren took a closer look at the pictures. "Do we have any idea where they could be at this point? If we're gonna go for a stakeout, we need to know somewhere we can observe them."

"I'll be thinking about that overnight. For now, we should probably let the commissioner know the plan. Hopefully, by the time I pick a place, we'll have an ID on that body we found earlier."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Ruby couldn't help but smile whenever she got a lead. This one was hopefully going to help put Cinder behind bars.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **FUN FACTS:**  
>  * Sun and Ren are around the same age as Ruby.  
> * I changed Glynda's surname. Honestly, you show me a single person in real life with the last name "Goodwitch." You can't, can you? Unlike "Ozpin," A surname with the word "witch" in it wasn't going to fit in well at all. (Imagine my surprise when I found a surname that was insanely similar.)  
> * Yeah, Weiss isn't that interested in Neptune after all. It's more of a publicity stunt.  
> * Cardin is not going to be a likable character. (I didn't like him in canon and I'm not going to make him any better in this AU.)  
> * Ozpin's full name is "Victor Ozpin."  
> * Pyrrha is in her early twenties in this fic.  
> * The rest of Team CRDL has nothing to do with Cardin in this fic. They don't even know each other.  
> * On that note, I changed Dove's name to Dave. I doubt that any guy in organized crime would be going by the name "Dove". If there is, he's got more balls than I do. That's for sure.
> 
> I hope you're enjoying it so far and as always, feel free to comment. I may not respond to all of them, but you can bet your bottom that I do read all of them.


	3. The Nightlife in the City of Vale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cinder tries to avoid escalating tensions while Weiss Schnee, Ruby tries to get approved to investigate the lead on Cinder, and Weiss has to come to terms with some harsh truths facing her future marriage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will say, at around 6400 words, this single chapter is almost as long as one of my first completed stories on here, _[Prelude to Chorus](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12877824/chapters/29416617)_. (Which, by the way, you should have a look at if you haven't already. ~~Shameless plug!~~ ) It's less than 1200 words shorter than the whole six-chapter story! Yeah, this is set to be my longest story yet that I have published on here.

Cinder called for a meeting with Roman Torchwick and Adam Taurus. Roman and Cinder were the first to arrive. They drove into an abandoned warehouse joined with some of their security. Roman stepped out of his car, smoking a Cuban cigar as he looked around at the cars entering the building. Cinder parked her red Ferrari and stepped out elegantly. Emerald soon followed. "Flashy as always, Cinder," Torchwick remarked.

"I wouldn't be judging if I were you, guyliner," she snarked. "At least I don't look like I'm trying out for a cheap theatrical production of _A Clockwork Orange_."

"Figures that you'd go for such a cheap shot." Cinder leaned back on her car as they waited. He leaned on his cane. "It appears that the Bull is fashionably late as usual."

"Quite unprofessional."

"Speaking of unprofessional, where's your little boytoy?"

"You know I'm not afraid to beat up a cripple, right?" He backed off. Torchwick had been shot in the knee during a deal-gone-bad. Ever since then, he hadn't had the same mobility that he did when he was younger, and he hated when Cinder brought it up. "Mercury has some business to do with my associate in the VPD."

"Very well. Will the Birds be attending?"

"I called them earlier. Emerald, what's the status on that?"

"Raven said she'll be here," Emerald replied. "She said she was on her way when we left."

Like clockwork, Raven's car pulled in as everyone looked over at her. The woman, Raven Branwen, stepped out of her car wearing thigh-high-boots, black jeans, and a red tank-top. She kept her signature red bandana as she looked at everyone with her piercing red eyes. "Apologies for being late. Had to avoid some cop cars."

"Raven," Cinder said with a smirk. "Only you could simultaneously try too hard to look good and still look like you don't care."

"Got a problem with how I dress?"

"Where's your brother?" Torchwick asked.

"Qrow has some business to do with a few Vale politicians. He is the face after all. I need him to look clean. More importantly, where the hell is Taurus."

"Late as usual."

"For fuck sake," she muttered.

"I think we can start without him." Cinder said.

"He's not gonna be happy about that," Torchwick noted.

"And since when did you give a shit about what he thinks?" Raven griped. "It's not like he ever has anything productive to add to these meetings other than a bunch of confrontation."

"So, are we all in agreement to begin?" The other two mobsters shrugged. "Good. As you know, Mayor Ironwood has invited Weiss Schnee into town to get business here. He's gonna be covering our tracks if he wants Schnee to stay in Vale. So, to help with that, I propose a momentary truce. Any territory in dispute will be off-limits to avoid all-out warfare. It's the best we can do."

Raven chuckled. "You really think Taurus will agree to that?"

"He will if he knows what's good for him. If any of our men get caught, we all suffer. Ergo, I'll try to revert resources to make sure that if there are any points where there will be a trail on us."

"Sounds good to me," Roman answered before taking a puff of his cigar. "If anyone has the resources to do that, it would be you."

"It didn't help with the body Schnee found this morning," Raven noted. That only earned a scowl from Cinder. "Speaking of Schnee, what are we gonna do about her? Should we just try to take her out to make sure she doesn't try anything?"

"We need to lay low, Rae," Cinder answered. "Making a move on Schnee will put a definite target on our backs that we don't need. For now, we…"

Cinder trailed off as they heard Adam Taurus and his crew entered the warehouse. He stepped out of his car in a black suit and red shades with his dark brown hair and default scowl. He was incredibly ill-tempered and that earned him his nickname, the Bull. Taurus was notorious for violent retaliation. Even more than Cinder. She was more brutal and creative about it, but she was methodical. He preferred to bulldoze over the competition.

Taurus put his shades in his pocket as he slammed the door shut. Torchwick rolled his eyes. "Late again, Taurus," Torchwick remarked.

"You got a fucking problem, Torchwick?!" Taurus shouted. "I'll destroy your other knee if you dare insult me again!"

"It's not an insult, Taurus," Raven noted. "It's just a fact. It wouldn't hurt to be a bit more punctual. Honestly, you can be such a goddamn child sometimes."

"You wanna say that to my face, Branwen?"

"I'm doing it right now, dickless!"

Taurus' fists clenched as he stormed over to Raven. "Enough," Cinder commanded. "No need for infighting right now."

"And who made you the queen of Vale?" he griped. "You think you have control over us?"

"Well, as the most influential boss in this city, I think it's safe to say that I have more authority than you do right now." Taurus' grimace intensified as he backed off. "Now, as for what you missed, I have decided that since Schnee is in town and Ironwood would rather turn a blind eye to us to make the city look good, I proposed that we call for a temporary truce."

"A peace treaty? From you of all people?"

"It made the most sense and would be rather beneficial to all of us if we don't cause all-out war while Schnee is here."

"Fuck that! I'm not making any deals with the likes of you! What do you care about peace?!"

"I care about pragmatism. It's the idea of doing things that benefit you the most regardless of satisfaction. It's the same principle behind **not** killing your workers at random over minor slights." Taurus' eyes widened with rage. "I may be violent, but I do need the workers for things, so I'd prefer not to kill them if possible."

He gritted his teeth in anger as she listened to the woman insult him. "You know," one man said, "to be honest, she's got a point about –" That was all he could get out before Taurus whipped out his gun and shot him several times in the chest, startling all the low-level workers. Emerald was aghast with fright and glad she didn't work for him. Though, being in the same vicinity wasn't much better.

"See now, Adam? Look what you've done. A waste of a perfectly good henchman and perfectly good bullets."

Taurus angrily turned the gun to Cinder's head. "SAY SOMETHING AGAIN! I FUCKING DARE YOU, YOU BITCH! GO AHEAD AND TEST ME!"

Cinder didn't even change her expression. "You might want to reconsider shooting me with an empty gun." Sure enough, when he pulled the trigger, no bullets came out. Just as Cinder smirked, Taurus opted to pistol-whip her. As she held her face, she slowly turned to make eye-contact with him just before headbutting him.

Before the fight could really escalate, Raven stepped in. "Alright, alright," she said. "One, Taurus, if you're really willing to get into a dick-measuring contest with a woman, that doesn't really reflect well on you. And Cinder, maybe we should save the fights for later and not in the middle of this meeting."

"Actually," Torchwick said, "if they wanna duke it out, this would be the perfect place for that. Just one-on-one. Let them have a chance to see who's better."

"Torchwick."

"No, I'll hear him out," Cinder replied. "If it'll put this pettiness to rest and allows to talk like civilized adults." Roman smiled and Raven stepped back. "What do you say, Taurus?"

Emerald walked up and said, "Cinder, I don't think this is –"

Cinder held up her hand to silence her as she stared into Taurus' eyes. She knew he had the intent to kill in his eyes. As soon as he threw a punch, Cinder effortlessly dodged it. She raised her leg to kick him in the face just before giving a spinning kick to the other side of his face. He threw more punches and she managed to block every one of them. She grabbed his arms and pulled him forward to knee him in the stomach. Suddenly, he managed to get one uppercut on her followed by a right cross and a left hook just before kicking her backward. Emerald gasped out of concern for Cinder, Roman watched with satisfaction, and Raven only looked with disapproval at this childish way of settling their argument.

But Cinder wasn't out of the fight. He got lucky with those hits, but she came back in full force. Punches came out so fast that he only knew they were coming when it was too late to block. He got another kick to the head and that made him furious. Taurus immediately grabbed one of his workers' guns and pointed it at Cinder. Before he could get a shot, she grabbed his extended arm and used it to pull herself off the ground. Her legs went up around his neck and she used the leverage to pull him to the ground on his side, disarming him while she did.

Cinder calmly returned the gun to the man Taurus stole it from and went back to kick him in the stomach. Even Roman cringed at this display of cruelty. Though not many people in the room had much sympathy for him beyond that. Cinder sauntered back to her car and leaned on the hood once again. "Now, if you're done being a whiny little man-baby, can we get back to business?" He stood up with a resentful expression and dusted himself off. Still, he remained where he was and gave up on fighting her.

"Well," Roman said, "I think I'm satisfied. Back to business." Raven shook her head as they continued to discuss business.

"Good. Now, the window for this is likely going to be a few months. If we have any disputes, let's not carry them out on the streets and instead go to each other personally. If you end up infringing on someone else's main business – for example, the Branwens stepping outside of their drug trafficking getting in on Taurus' sex trafficking trade – your men must allow the others to continue their business and report back to you. Then you can decide if you want to take matters into your own hands."

"That's a hypothetical of course," Raven asserted. "We haven't even touched that business in months anyway."

"You seemed to be singing a different tune last week, Branwen," Taurus yelled, "I caught your guys trafficking girls in my part of town."

Raven knew it happened. She was trying to get into that front since it gained a little more money and there was a higher demand for it. She had no moral reservations about it as her tone would've suggested. "Well, I'm not doing it now."

"Bullshit!"

"Enough!" Cinder shouted. "For the time being, we're not going to all-out war in the streets of Vale. And as long as people stay in their own lanes, things will be fine. Do we have an accord?" The other bosses reluctantly nodded indicating their support. "Excellent. I assure you all that this agreement will be beneficial to all of us in the long run. Once this Schnee shit blows over, we can go back to tearing each other's throats out. Sound fair."

"As fair as it will ever be," Roman replied. Cinder smirked at the comment.

 

* * *

 

Ruby and Ren were in Ozpin's office with the folder of photos on his desk. "So, we may think," Ruby began, "that these guys may have a connection to Cinder's operation. If we can connect Taurus' trades to Cinder's work, that can probably be grounds for an arrest. If they take a plea deal, we can probably get some information out of one of them."

Ozpin took one of the photos in his hand. "Are you sure about this?" he inquired.

"It's the best lead that we've got at this point. At least until we find out about the body. We should be getting that overnight, right?"

"Hopefully. The boys at the crime lab said they're close. But I can't say that you'll get anything tangible."

"Sir, I think this is the best lead we've got so far. If I could get a better one, I would. We just need to stage a stakeout and we might find something on them." Ozpin adjusted his glasses indicating his apprehension. Ruby started to get worried. "Please. All I need is your go-ahead for this one."

"She's not wrong," Ren added. "If we can connect Taurus' business to Cinder's, we can track her down. We need to get everything done soon before they get taken out."

Ozpin knew it was possible. He stroked his chin as he mulled over the decision. He finally spoke up to say, "I approve of it, but the paperwork to clear this will take a while to submit and approve."

"Then call the D.A.," she replied, "and tell them we can get it done tonight if they can get it approved by tomorrow."

"You really want to do this, don't you?"

"If the rumors about Taurus are true, he might kill one of them just for not getting the right shades. And if he's not going to get him, Cinder might catch on and have it taken care of herself. Do you really want to lose a lead like that?"

Ozpin sighed and picked up the phone and called someone. Ruby worried about what he was doing. "It's Ozpin. I'll need you to stay behind for a bit. You're about to get a hell of a lot of paperwork." Ruby's eyes lit up with joy when she realized he was going along with her idea. "Yes, it's Rose again." She felt a bit of shame when she remembered that this isn't the first time this has happened and that it was often enough that she was infamous for it in the district attorney's office. "Thank you." He hung up the phone. "I suggest you get started with the papers. And you better hope that Ironwood doesn't try to obstruct it when to get his work with the Schnee woman."

"Thank you, sir," she replied, gratitude clear in her voice. "Come on, Ren." She took her partner out of the commissioner's office and headed out to get the proper filing to begin the investigation. "This is great!"

"You're getting really excited about this," Ren stated.

"I always am. Once we get through the torture of paperwork, the good part begins."

"Will Blake be waiting for you at home?"

"Shit! I forgot to tell Blake. I'll be right back. Get the rest of the forms for me!" She darted for the homicide unit to find her wife.

Over in the homicide unit, Sun and Blake were packing up their things to go home. They had about an hour left before they needed to clock out, but they still didn't want to be staying behind while packing their things. Ruby taught her that idea. Sun looked over at her bag and asked her, "You got everything done?"

"Yeah," she answered. "I just have a few things to finish up and then I am getting the fuck out of here. I've got a lovely wife waiting for me." She heard footsteps approaching. She looked up and saw Ruby charging for her. "Speak of the devil. Hello, Ruby."

"Hey," she said before kissing her on the cheek. "Just wanted to let you know that I might be heading home late."

"Another last-minute paperwork run to get approved for an investigation?"

"You know me so well."

Blake chuckled. "Alright. I'll be waiting. Hopefully, you don't cramp up your writing hand too much. I might wanna use that for later." She winked at Ruby and her wife knew exactly what she was talking about. She blushed as she went back to her desk.

Sun couldn't help but smile as he shook his head. "You two are adorable together," he noted.

"Yeah, we're pretty lucky. Hopefully, we'll be getting even luckier when we find out whose body that is tomorrow."

"Speaking of bodies," they heard as Cardin walked up with his lecherous smile, "I'm looking at a mighty fine one right here." Blake and Sun loathed his presence. It didn't help that he shamelessly groped her butt, causing her to jump. "Nice to see that the Bellabooty is still in good shape."

She shuddered at the comment with disgust, and this wasn't the first time he had done something like this to her. "Sun, what's the number for HR?"

That caused him to release her butt like it was on fire. "Fine, fine. Trust me, you dykes will change your minds about me soon."

As he left, Blake glared at him with contempt. "Bellabooty?" Sun asked. "Really?"

"An average encounter being a woman around… well, not just Cardin. Pretty much anywhere in public."

"It couldn't be that bad."

"Believe me, Sun. It really is." She continued to pack her stuff.

"I mean, I know you've got a nice ass – just being honest – but you'd think guys would be able to keep themselves under control."

"And that's exactly what someone who doesn't have to deal with it would think. You're a good guy, Sun, but unfortunately, a lot of guys just suck. Some more than others."

"Is that why you're a lesbian then?"

"No, I just prefer girls. I'm sure as an avid lady-lover yourself, you understand where I'm coming from on that front."

"Fair enough. Girls are definitely hotter. Though, I might have a biased opinion." Blake smirked at Sun's comment as she finished packing and continued working on everything she had left to do for the day.

 

* * *

 

Weiss finally returned to the apartment she was staying at in Vale. After all the planning she had to go through just to get her business started up, it was exhausting. As soon as she opened the door, she found that Glynda was talking with one of Weiss' longtime friends, famed fashion designer Coco Adel. And Coco's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree when she saw her. "Weiss, baby!" She screamed as she went to give her a hug. "It's so good to see you again. It's been forever and a half."

Weiss smiled at her. "Coco, I didn't expect to see you here."

"Well, I was already on my way to visit when I heard you were going to Vale, and after what happened this morning, I thought you could benefit from seeing a familiar face."

Weiss blushed as Coco gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, but you really didn't have to do this."

"Don't be silly! I was gonna show up to see you anyway. You were gonna be pretty busy in Vale, and I was going to be pretty swamped with designing a new line, so I thought we could have a chance to hang out and kick back." Weiss gave a small smile. Coco then picked up Weiss' left hand. "I see you've still got the ring on your finger. Still going through with it, huh? Tell me, any newfound bisexuality awakened in you yet?"

"Coco!"

"He's not here yet, honey. Don't worry."

Glynda confirmed, "Mr. Vasilias will be here soon. He was just making sure wedding arrangements, but when he heard about us finding the body, he said he was coming straight here."

Weiss breathed a sigh of relief to know that her secret hadn't been revealed. "How long exactly do you plan on keeping this up? Honestly, it doesn't suit you."

"I…" Weiss began, "…I don't know. I really don't." Coco's face became more serious. She knew exactly why she had to go through with this. She wasn't open enough with her sexuality yet. Her parents never understood it. While they loved her in every other way, this was one thing they never could understand. They wanted grandkids, keeping up the bloodline like she was some kind of royalty. And Neptune was the compromise.

Coco knew about this well. She was more open about being bisexual, but she and Weiss had been in a sexual relationship in the past when she could still hide it from people. "Come on. We both know you can't keep this up forever. Besides, I can't be your fuckbuddy on the side anymore. And that's a damn shame for both of us." Coco gave her a quick pat on the ass as she smirked. "You at least have to tell him."

"No! I can't I just… I just need to keep this up until…"

"Until you die?" Coco raised an eyebrow and Weiss hung her head down. Coco lifted Weiss' chin to look her in the eye. "Trust me, kid. Lying like this takes a toll on you. It's just easier if you come clean sooner rather than later. And if you do, feel free to pass Neptune along to me since we both know you don't want him."

Weiss gave a small smile just before someone knocked on the door. Glynda went to check who it was. It was Neptune. Speak of the devil, she thought. She opened the door for him. "Ms. Goodridge," he said. "Lovely to see you again."

"Nice to see you, too, Mr. Vasilias," she replied. Weiss already dreaded this, but she put on a smile anyway.

"And where's my little Snow Angel?" Neptune walked right towards Weiss. He hugged her and gave her a kiss.

Coco chuckled to herself. "Well, I'm honestly sure who I'm more jealous of."

"Nice to see you again, too, Coco."

"Likewise. You still want my help designing your outfits for the wedding?"

Weiss smiled and answered, "Coco, you don't have to do that."

"Anything for a friend." She put on her sunglasses and headed for the door. "I'll be seeing you two around."

As Coco left, Glynda also decided to leave. "I shall leave you two alone for now," she said. "Goodnight, Miss Schnee."

And with that, Neptune and Weiss were finally alone. "I'm glad I got here when I could," he said. "I heard about the news and I couldn't just leave you here alone."

"Thank you, darling," she replied, "but I can take care of myself."

"Well, at least I can put my mind at ease knowing that you're safe." He kissed her again and she allowed it. She knew she had to keep up appearances. "You know, since it's been a while, maybe we could have some time to ourselves if you know what I mean." Weiss sighed and tried to hide her dread for what was coming next. However, it doesn't seem it was hidden well enough judging by his response. "If you don't want to, that's fine. I can always wait, and you've already been through a lot today."

"No, no. It's fine. It might help take my mind off things," she lied.

"Are you sure? I don't want you to feel like you're obligated to do it. I know we're getting married, but I'd rather be a gentleman about this."

"You're trying to ask if you can have sex. It's a bit hard to sound gentlemanly about it." He shrugged. "And I'm sure. Let's do this."

If nothing else, she tried to do this just to make sure he wouldn't be asking any time soon. She followed him to their bedroom as he kissed her passionately. She tried to detach herself from the situation as he pulled off her clothes. Everything she did felt like choreography. Every hand placement, every facial expression, every moan, all to convince him that she was enjoying herself rather than secretly waiting for it to end. He was at least good at eating her out, but that only went so far since he was only doing it to arouse her. It was only foreplay in his eyes. And it was the only thing she could truly look forward to. After that, she had to hone her acting skills and wait for him to finish.

Coco's comment stuck in her mind. Did she have to keep this up until she died? She hoped not.

 

* * *

 

Yang and Pyrrha went down the street at night on the way to their job. They usually preferred to work nights since they only got bored college students when they were out earlier, and they couldn't pay well. Nighttime was when the higher paying customers came out. Usually businessmen. They stayed together just for protection. They were fighters, but they usually stood a better chance if they were in a group.

Yang spent some time talking about one of her customers. "So, as soon as the guy got inside me, he's like hesitating. I'm thinking, 'Is this guy okay?' I even asked if he was ready, and when he told me he was fine, he was straining so much it seemed like he was constipated. And I'm telling you he was a literal one-pump-chump. He didn't even go for a second before he came." She laughed as Pyrrha smirked at the story. "As soon as I realized it, I just burst out laughing! I couldn't even pretend to think it wasn't pathetic. I even told him, 'Dude, I know I'm hot, but I couldn't be that hot!' And he was giving the usual excuses. 'This doesn't happen to me often.' 'I haven't had sex in a while.' Blah, blah, blah."

"It happens to some guys," Pyrrha replied, thinking of Jaune when she heard that.

"Pyrrha, I have dealt with some minutemen before, but this definitely is the most pathetic. I even told him I can't even pretend that's not pathetic. Then he was trying to get himself hard again, and I'm just waiting there because he's still got the rest of the hour left. I waited for seven fucking minutes and he couldn't get himself hard again. And this wasn't some old, geriatric guy with ED! He's like maybe mid-thirties! No excuse! After that, I just decided to give him a discount out of pity. Like, I almost felt bad for him. No wonder he sleeps with hookers. No girl would stay with him long. Hell, they'd still stay longer than he could last."

"You know, you could at least try to help him out. Maybe he's nervous."

"Come on, Pyrrha. I'm just there to fuck him. I'm not there to walk him through the process. If you're going to purchase a sex worker, you obviously know the basics. Why are you getting so defensive of the guy?"

As they walked past a bar, some drunk guys outside started catcalling them. "Hey, sexy ladies! Wanna come over here and show us those big titties of yours?"

Yang rolled her eyes and turned back to them. "How much are you paying?"

"What? Why not give us a free preview?"

"Wouldn't you guys prefer having fun sucking each other's dicks tonight?"

"What'd you just say?" Now they were angry.

"There's nothing wrong with it. If you're gay, you're gay. Just embrace it."

"Fuck you, you ugly bitch!"

"Trust me, you couldn't afford it." As they continued angrily yelling at her, Yang just flipped them off as she walked away with Pyrrha. "Anyway, defend the premature guys? Do you have some sympathy for them?"

Pyrrha shrugged. "Maybe he has issues. You don't know."

"Is there something you wanna tell me?" Pyrrha looked away and Yang immediately knew she was. "What is it, P? You know you've gotta tell me."

Pyrrha sighed. "You remember the boy I've regularly been seeing?"

"That blond kid you told me about?" Pyrrha nodded. "I'm guessing he's the same way. I know a lot of high school boyfriends who were lacking in the stamina department. I don't know why you wanna…" Then the realization hit her. "Holy shit! You're falling for him, aren’t you?"

"Th- that's not true."

"Nah, I see it in your eyes. You're falling in love with this guy." Pyrrha rubbed her arm nervously. "Hey, trust me. You don't need to get involved with him beyond letting him put his dick inside you. It's not worth it. I doubt he's going to be dating a sex worker that he's been paying for. You just fuck your clients. You're not supposed to date them. Don't get attached."

"What about your and Mercury?"

"That's different. He's just a good fuck. That's all. No emotions behind it, no strings attached, no worries to speak of. That's how it should go."

"Hey sluts!" they heard. "We were talking to you!"

Yang sighed, but Pyrrha was startled. The girls turned around and saw that the guys from the bar were following them. "You know, I admire your persistence. Most guys on the street who wanted to fuck us would’ve gone with calling us ugly and moving on."

"You think you're gonna ignore us like that?"

"We were planning on it." This sort of thing happened to them all the time. Yang was confident enough to take it in stride, but Pyrrha was still awkward about it. "Look, just leave us alone before you start to regret this decision to mess with us."

The leader of this trio of guys looked at his crew and smirked. "Nah, I don't think we'll regret this at all."

However, while they responded differently initially, they both were prepared to defend themselves. As they prepared to beat them up, Yang announced, "Suit yourselves, assholes."

As soon as one of them threw a punch, Yang blocked it and punched him in the face. The other two and was able to block both of their hits and kick them in the chest with her left leg. She used the right to spin herself around and bring one of them down to the pavement. Yang got up to a round of fisticuffs with the leader of this group and he was barely able to keep up with her. Every time he thought he would get a punch in, she blocked it. Every time he thought he'd dodge one of her strikes, there was another one waiting for him coming from the other side. It wasn't long until he was on the ground. Just in time for Pyrrha to toss the other man on top of him.

As they laid on the ground in pain, Yang said, "Now, if you were a little nicer, this wouldn't have happened. Come on, Pyrrha. Let's leave these guys to sit here and think about how badly they fucked up." The girls laughed as they walked away.

 

* * *

 

Mercury waited in an alley while flipping a butterfly knife. He got pretty good at it ever since Cinder was able to get him one. Speaking of which, he was waiting for someone that needed to be paid off on Cinder's orders. Waiting in the dark wasn't something that he was particularly looking forward to, but he tried to make the most of it.

"You know, I should have you put under arrest," he heard. He looked up and saw a police officer. And not just any officer. Officer Winchester. However, Mercury was not fazed. "I just decided to take a walk home and I come across experienced hitman, Mercury Black. I know I'm off the clock, but I think it's my duty to have you arrested." Cardin smiled with pride as he strolled closer.

Mercury put his knife back in his pocket and smiled. "Come on, Cardin," Mercury replied. "I thought we were on better terms than that."

"Not after my cut came up short last week. I thought I was doing an important job. My paycheck was supposed to reflect that."

"And you could say the same about your job as a cop. By the way, how are the Mayor's budget cuts working out for you?"

Cardin was getting more furious while Mercury stayed calm. "Don't pull that shit on me! I can still have you arrested. Maybe I can point Sergeant Rose in the right direction to a piece of evidence that leads her directly to you. I'm sure your boss wouldn't be so happy to find out that you led the cops right to her."

"Yeah, but I've been covering my tracks pretty well. So, if something does get to her, she knows who to turn to, and more specifically, who to turn into a bonfire." In a blind fury, Cardin threw a punch at Mercury's face, but Mercury dodged it and grabbed the officer's arm. He kicked his legs from under him and pulled him to the ground. As Cardin groaned in pain, Mercury pulled out a cash-stuffed envelope and tossed it on his chest. "Twenty grand. Next time, you might wanna be a little more grateful." Cardin picked himself up as he grabbed the envelope and he watched the hitman leave him. He grumbled to himself as he left the alley as well.

 

* * *

 

Blake sat in bed reading a book while she waited for Ruby to return. She was an avid reader and had shelves full of books. Ruby even helped her build some for their home to make sure Blake had more room for her books. She even once joked that they should have a room for Blake's books. She was halfway through reading her current book before she heard the front door open. She couldn't help but gain a smile knowing her wife had returned.

Ruby entered the bedroom with a large smile on her face. "Hello, my lovely wife." She went up to the girl and kissed her nose.

"Did you get all those forms filled out?" Blake asked.

"Yes, and I have the hand cramps to prove it." She massaged her right hand as she mentioned it. "I'm just glad to see you again."

"Same here. Especially after what happened with Winchester just after you left."

Ruby sighed. "Lemme guess. He was appreciating the 'Bellabooty' again?" Blake nodded. "Why the hell hasn't he been fired yet? I don't know what they're waiting for. Are they just waiting for him to straight-up rape someone in the precinct?"

"I really hope it doesn't come to that, but we're apparently stuck with him for the time being." She leaned on her side as she placed a bookmark in her novel.

"Well, I know you can handle him. Besides, he knows the Bellabooty is mine." She smirked as she smacked her butt. They had a nice chuckle about the joke. "I'm gonna go take a shower and then I'll join you."

Blake watched as Ruby started taking off her clothes. "Do you mind going a little slower for me honey?" Ruby giggled and started the impromptu striptease. She turned around and started unbuttoning her shirt. Once she opened it up, revealing her bra, Blake bit her lip as she watched the shirt drop to the floor. "Much better." She kicked off her shoes with her toes and kicked them the side. Ruby turned around as she pulled her pants down, revealing her panties. While she was bent over, she rolled off her socks. "Loving the view."

"I know it's not as great as yours," Ruby replied as she stood back up to unhook her bra, "but it's the best I've got."

"No need to sell yourself short, Ruby. At least you do a good striptease." Blake and Ruby smiled at each other as Ruby turned around while holding the cups of her bra. She sauntered closer to the bed before letting the straps of the bra slide off her arms and dangling it off her finger.

As she dropped it on the bed, she turned back to the shower. "We can have some more fun after I finish my shower." Blake returned to her book with a large grin on her face, awaiting her wife's return to the bed.

 

* * *

 

Weiss laid awake in bed while Neptune slept soundly next to her. She looked over at him as she grabbed her phone from the nightstand. Immediately, she opened her conversation with Glynda.

[11:48 PM] **Weiss:** Are you awake?  
[11:50 PM] **Glynda:** Fortunately for you, yes. What do you need?  
[11:50 PM] **Weiss:** Remember that address I told you to find?  
[11:51 PM] **Glynda:** Yes, and I did track it down.  
[11:52 PM] **Weiss:** I need it now. I'm going there tomorrow night.  
[11:54 PM] **Glynda:** Are you sure about that?  
[11:54 PM] **Glynda:** What if the tabloids caught you going there?  
[11:55 PM] **Weiss:** You know I'll be careful.  
[11:57 PM] **Weiss:** Please?! I really need this! :(  
[11:58 PM] **Weiss:** I'm seriously desperate right now.  
[12:02 AM] **Glynda:** Fine. I'll send it to you in a minute.  
[12:03 AM] **Weiss:** Thanks. You're the best. :)

Weiss waited for Glynda to send the address. She wasn’t planning on going there this soon after arriving in Vale, but she couldn't hold out on this. She waited for the embrace of slumber to fall upon her. For once, she needed a good night's sleep.

 

* * *

 

Ruby kept her face between Blake's legs as she ate her out. Blake moaned louder and louder, biting on her fist to keep quiet. Ruby slid her hands up Blake's thighs as she reached around to grab her butt. "Ruby..." Blake moaned. A night like this was a fantastic night for them. It wasn't long until Blake orgasmed. Ruby kept her face down as she waited for it to die down. Blake's moans got quieter as she came back down from the high. Ruby wiped her mouth and went back up to lay her head on the pillow. "Thank you," Blake panted. "I needed that..."

"Anything for you, Blake," Ruby replied as she kissed her cheek.

"Are you sure you don't want me to eat you out, too. It seems only fair."

"I'd love that. I really would, but I do need to get up early and I was kinda pushing it to get something in for you. Don't worry though, think of it as a gift."

Blake put her arm around Ruby's shoulder. "It doesn't seem to fair."

"Honey, I got to keep my hands all over your hips while listening to your beautiful moans. I've got enough for now. I just..." Ruby started yawning. "...really need some sleep."

Blake chuckled. "That's fair." She shut the lamp off and got comfortable while cuddling with her wife. "Goodnight, Ruby." She kissed her forehead.

"Goodnight, Blake."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **FUN FACTS:**  
>  * I'm still not sure if I want Raven to be Yang's mom, so the jury is still out on exactly how old I'm gonna make her.  
> * Cinder, I have now decided, is about thirty. Roman is a few years older than that.  
> * Roman can walk, but he'll risk damaging his knee further if he doesn't have the cane.  
> * Each of the bosses has a specific trade as Cinder mentioned. Cinder herself deals in arms, Roman traffics organs, Adam mainly goes with sex trafficking, and the Branwen twins mostly deal with drugs. Though, also as Cinder mentioned, they often deal in other trades on the side since it may be more profitable to them.  
> * Speaking of which, you heard right. _Both_ birbs are criminals in this story. (No, there's no typo in this part.)  
>  * Coco and Weiss were only friends with benefits and not outright dating.  
> * The Schnee parents aren't absolutely terrible parents. I know! It's a shock! Aside from potentially not accepting that she's a lesbian, they actually treat Weiss quite well.  
> * Cardin being a dirty cop has nothing to do with me hating him. I actually prefer writing villainous characters, so making him a bad guy isn't reflective of my opinion of him.  
> * It's not important to note this, but I just wanted to: Jaune is a chronic premature ejaculator. Pyrrha has a big heart, she doesn't care about how good he is in bed (and she is well aware of it).
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the story so far and I'm really looking forward to what I have planned for this one. As always, feel free to leave a comment even if you hated it. I may not respond to most of them, but I do read all of them. I promise you that much. Also, if you have any questions regarding the details of this AU that haven't been mentioned or you just want to be clarified, let me know and I'll try to answer as long as it concerns things I've already posted and won't spoil anything for later.


	4. The Price of Getting the Answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby and Ren manage to get a few steps closer to busting Cinder. The Branwens have a short meeting. Cinder finds out about Adam's tampering with her business.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **4 June 2018 Note:** I added a short extra scene between Ruby and Blake to the end of the last chapter, so I'd recommend checking that out first before moving on if you haven't seen it.

Ren and Ruby sat in the car out of sight, waiting for their targets. Both had dressed in some casual wear (Ruby in a leather jacket, Ren in a dark hoodie) to blend in just in case they needed to leave the car. They had a long day ahead of them, but they kept their radios on just in case there was an emergency they needed to respond to. However, they both prepared for one long day of boredom. As Ruby had admitted, the job wasn't always as glamorous as the cop-shows will tell you.

"Are you sure this is the place?" Ren asked.

"Positive," Ruby answered. "It's a common hangout for the low-level workers. If they're gonna be anywhere, here is the most likely place. Especially during the day."

"So, now it's playing the waiting game."

"You knew what you signed up for when you did the paper run with me." Ren chuckled as he shook his head. "Come on, partner. You think I wanna be stuck alone in a parked car with a guy? We all have to make sacrifices."

"You don't really think that I'd really try to make a move on you, do you?"

"Of course not, but still. Last time I was alone in a parked car with someone, I was being pinned down in the back seat while a girl was proposing to me."

"Blake?"

"No, an ex-girlfriend of mine. I'm pretty sure she was legit psychotic. I even tried to have her institutionalized. Haven't heard anything from her since."

"I'm surprised you're not dead."

"She was relatively harmless. Just rather emotionally unstable. She needed someone who could really help her, and I couldn't be that."

"Well, that's unfortunate."

"Not as unfortunate as what happened with your last boyfriend. What was he charged with? Illegal money laundering and gambling?"

Ren sighed. "You know, that's not really something I like to bring up, okay?"

"I mean, if we're trading stories about terrible exes, might as well talk about him." Ren scoffed. "You had to have seen the signs on the wall. What made you stay with him?" He stayed silent as he avoided eye-contact. "Come on, Ren. Tell me."

He sighed before saying, "He gave good blowjobs, okay?"

Ruby's grin reached from ear to ear. "Wow!"

"I'm not exactly proud of that decision."

"And you shouldn't be. Hey, are you still seeing that teacher? What was her name."

"Nora Valkyrie."

"Heh. That is badass. 'Valkyrie' is really her name?"

"It was a surprise to me, too."

"If you ever get married, don't make her change her name. You wouldn't wanna lose a last-name like that."

"Trust me. She already is aware and wasn't going to marry a guy if he made her give up her last name. I frankly agree with her."

Ruby picked up binoculars looked at the building. "Good thinking. So, does that mean you're considering putting a ring on it?"

"Possibly, but that's a long way away." Suddenly, Ren's phone rang, and he picked it up as Ruby kept watch. "Officer Ren." Ruby looked closely at the building searching for the suspects. However, she was still having no luck. She barely paid attention to Ren's call, but she listened for when he ended the call. "Rose, that body that Schnee found? Looks like it belongs to Robert Swift."

"Shit," she griped as she handed the binoculars to Ren. "That means Jacob and Steven might've been taken out, too."

"Do you think it's connected?"

"I doubt it. We found his body before we had this idea. Most likely, we just got very unlucky with this one."

"I guess Sky, Dave, and Russel are our best bet now."

Ruby sighed as she rested her cheek on her fist. "I was really hoping we could get a direct connection to Cinder."

"One of those guys could reveal some dealings between Taurus and Cinder. It's not completely hopeless. You just have to have faith."

"Yeah, you're right. Let's just wait and see what happens."

* * *

Qrow Branwen had to be the public relations between the two. He was more of the people-person compared to his sister. Raven was too abrasive for this sort of work. He had to put on his best face and negotiate with the politicians. He had become particularly good friends with Ironwood, who didn't suspect a thing about him. Ironwood never was a great judge of character, but it helped that Qrow knew exactly how to talk to people to make them more open to negotiation.

He tried on his best suit for an interview with talk show host, David Reynolds, that he had tomorrow. He had to publicly denounce his sister's activities to make sure no one would be suspecting him. It wasn't hard for him to denounce her. They weren't on the best of terms. Not for moral reasons. If he could get his hands dirty, he'd have no problem with it. No, they were just never on the best of terms beyond their business partnership. Though, he appreciated the fact that he didn't have to talk to her much since they couldn't be seen together in public.

But that didn't stop her from trying. The door suddenly opened, and he pointed a gun at the intruder only to realized that it was Raven. "Calm down, bro," she said. "It's just me."

"That doesn't exactly make me feel better," he said. "You made sure no one saw you, right?"

"So paranoid." She calmly walked up to him. He was furious about her lack of concern for the matter.

"Might I remind you that our whole plan hinges on no one finding out we're working together. If we're even seen together, it could fuck up everything."

"Qrow. Relax. I'm careful. It's not like I just got off a murder spree just before getting here." Qrow grumbled. "Do you need me to wear an ankle monitor just so you can track me? You're just like mom."

"There's a reason why she liked me better. And that's also why I'm the one doing PR and not you because you'd ruin everything."

"That was the tradeoff. I got the brute strength and street-smarts, you got the charisma and book-smarts. If only you'd use that charisma to find a girlfriend."

"Dope it, Raven!" Raven had been trying to get him a girlfriend ever since they were children, and to say it was infuriating and humiliating for her to keep doing this was an understatement.

Since she didn't have the time to push it, she let it go for now. "Ugh. Fine. Are you ready for your interview tomorrow?"

"Yes. It'll be pretty easy to talk bad about you on live television."

"Yeah, I'm sure you've been waiting for a chance to do that." Raven put her arm around Qrow's waist and pulled him closer. He immediately pulled away from her. Raven almost seemed offended by the action. "No need to be so jumpy. You need to get used to this since the ladies will be all over you."

"No, I don't!"

She scoffed and muttered, "Queer." She stepped away from him as he decided to find his notes for the interview.

"What did Cinder have to say?"

"She wanted to call a peace treaty while Schnee is in town."

"Smart enough. Ironwood wants to cover things up for that celebrity. If I can convince him to turn a blind eye to what you guys are doing, it would help."

"One can only hope. Anyway, I have our profits from the recent runs." She held up the small bag of cash. "Three hundred grand. Not helped by the fact that the Bull keeps trying to butt in on our trade."

"Doesn't help that you're trying to butt in on his." She pulled it away as soon as he grabbed it. "Rae, give me my cut."

She smirked as she said, "Persuade me."

He immediately went for his gun again, but as soon as he was able to point it at her head, she knocked it out of his hand and pushed herself closer to him. "I said…" She got closer to her face to the point that they were almost touching. "…persuade me." Qrow grimaced when she realized what she was asking. To avoid this, he grabbed the bag from her hand and pushed her away from him. He pulled out his half from the bag and tossed it back to her. "What the hell is your problem?"

"My problem?!" He was furious to know that she thought he was the problem.

"You know what, forget it. You've got your money. Just make sure you don't fuck things up in the interview."

"I'm the one doing the interview, so it won't get fucked up." She flipped him off as she backed away. "Also, I've gotta see Ironwood and make sure that things run smoothly and that he's playing into our hands."

"Very well. I'll see you soon." With that, she left his apartment. All he could do was sit on the edge of his bed and bury his face in his palms. He never looked forward to seeing his sister. They were family and they always respected that, but… their relationship was strained to say the least. He always needed a moment to clear his head after seeing her.

* * *

After two hours, Ruby finally saw Dave and Sky walking into the abandoned building. Bingo, she thought. "Ren, they're here." Ren looked up and saw the criminals going in. "Can you try to follow them?"

"It's not like we can arrest them," he noted. "We don't even have any evidence of them committing a crime."

"Dammit… We know they're guilty, but we just need something to pin on them. Anything at all."

"We might if those girls have anything to say about it."

Ruby looked at Ren quizzically. "What girls?" Ren pointed up at a couple of girls who were talking to them. "Shit. Taurus is mainly a sex trafficker. This could be how they get girls. You've gotta follow them. Make sure they don’t try to abduct them."

"If I get caught, this whole thing is blown."

"Ren, I know you're a master of stealth. If there's a problem, you can always find a way out of it."

"I have a feeling that this day will be the day that it doesn't happen."

"You just need to make sure they're not trying to abduct them. You know Russel could be hiding in there to take them. If nothing's up, you don't even need to arrest them." Ren sighed. "Just get in there. It could be anything."

Ren saw that they were going inside, and he felt he had no choice. "Fine. I'll go."

Ren put up his hood and made sure no one was going to see him coming out of this car. "Don't worry. I'll be ready to back you up if things go wrong."

Ren nodded and moved forward. He tried to make sure no one else saw him or his face. Ruby kept watching all the way up to when he got inside. He kept his piece on him to defend himself if necessary. Ren went into the dilapidated building and followed the four into the building. Undesirables were everywhere. No one paid much attention as long as you didn't try to mess with anyone. Most of what he saw were junkies making deals and shooting up heroin. "Right this way, ladies," he heard Sky say. He tried to follow them to make sure that it wasn't a trap. Though, with everyone here (even though they were also doing illegal actions), they probably wouldn't want any witnesses to a kidnapping.

Ren got closer to where they were, and they turned into a room. They shut the door and he worried about what was about to happen. He made sure he didn't hear anything that would be the sign of a struggle. "We got some seriously pure shit," Dave declared.

"You told us that last time," one girl said. "It was barely worth the bag it was stuffed in." Please don't let anything happen, Ren thought.

"We promise this is good. As long as you've got the money."

"Sucked twelve dicks to get it," the other girl said. "Honestly, why couldn't we just go to the Bird? Their prices are better." _She must be talking about Branwen._

"You know, you could suck a couple more dicks for a discount," Sky said.

"Yeah right. I'd rather pay double for this stuff. Here's your money, now just fuck off."

"That's a shame. It would've been a pretty good discount." It wasn't long until the girls left the room and walked out of the building. Ren breathed a sigh of relief that was soon negated when the pair of Taurus' workers walked out. He shoved past them and tried to get out of there as soon as possible. Unfortunately, they weren't too happy about that.

"Hey, asshole!" Dave yelled. Ren tried to ignore them. "Asshole! Why don't you learn some manners!" _Screw this._ Ren pulled out his gun and pointed it at them. They kept their hands raised as they backed off knowing to leave him alone as he left the building.

Ruby watched as the girls walked out of the building and felt some relief knowing that they weren't going to be kidnapped. Soon after, she saw her partner exiting the building safely.

Ren walked up and entered the car just before removing his hood. "Apparently," he began, "they've been trying to sell drugs. The girls were customers. Probably sex workers."

"At least that's a crime we can pin on them. We can leave knowing that they're doing something connected to the mob. Taurus doesn't usually deal with drugs."

"If they're crossing different trades, this could be very valuable information."

"Damn right. This is good."

* * *

While up in Cinder's bedroom, Mercury started fucking Cinder from behind as he held her arms behind her back with one hand. Surprisingly, he was the only one who was allowed to be rough with her. Anyone else would've at least lost a finger by now. "Fuck, Mercury!" she moaned. She frankly didn't care if anyone was listening to her.

Mercury spanked her hard as he pulled her arms back. "You just needed someone to treat you like a little slut, huh?" She moaned louder as he spanked her again. "Big bad mob boss, Cinder, gets her kicks getting fucked like a bitch in heat."

"Don't be so cocky," she said with a smirk on her face, "because I could still kick your ass."

"I wouldn't say that while I can start fucking your ass." He spanked her again.

"Ah! Just keep going…" He did exactly that just as soon as the phone rang, much to her frustration. "Goddammit!" She pushed him away as she went for the phone on the nightstand. "Cinder here." Mercury shook his head as he watched her make the call. "What?! How did you find this out?!" He was now intrigued by what she was talking about, but whatever it was, it seemed to be making her furious. "Then find him! I wanna see him for myself!" _I don't envy the poor son of a bitch who just caught her attention_ , Mercury thought. "JUST DO IT!" She angrily hung up the phone.

"What was all that about?"

Cinder crossed her arms over her chest as she laid back on her bed. "Apparently, we have a mole working for the Bull. Fucking Taurus…"

"I guess that whole deal he made was a pile of Taurus-shit." He smirked at the joke, Cinder wasn't amused. "Yeah, that could've been better."

"It shouldn't have been said." She groaned as she buried her face in her palms. "He just doesn't know when to quit, does he?"

"Well, we don't need to stay focused on that crap." He positioned himself over Cinder as he spread her legs. "Let's focus on what's going on right now," he stated as he penetrated her. "You know you can take him on."

Cinder bit her lip as she moaned. "That would be fun."

"Yeah?" Mercury whispered in her ear as he picked up his pace. "Maybe we can break his legs when we get him."

"You know how much I love breaking bones," she moaned.

"Feeling the crack as you break them? Does that make you wet?"

"Maybe…" She smirked. "Tell me what else we could do to him."

It was a bit unconventional form of dirty talk, but Mercury was more than happy to oblige. "How about taking a hot iron to his smug face."

"Oh, yes…"

"Mm-hm. You'd like hearing his skin sizzling on the hot metal."

"Hotter than you're making me right now." She moaned even louder as he rocked the bed while pounding into her.

"You know, I got some pliers," he said as he grunted, "You wanna pull out his teeth one by one?"

"Yes!" Her moans increased as his thrusts became more erratic. "Keep this up and you're gonna make me cum!"

Mercury chuckled at the thought. "How about snapping his ribs? Let some of them puncture his lungs and listen to him try and breath after that shit."

"Yes! Oh, FUCK ME, MERCURY!" Her arms and legs wrapped around his back as she reached her climax while yelling his name. He grunted as he also reached his peak, pushing himself deep inside her. "I needed that…" she said while breathing heavily.

He pulled out of her and laid next to her. "You're welcome."

"Maybe you can use that mouth of yours to turn me on in another way?"

"Are you seriously asking me to eat you out after I just came inside you?"

"Come on, Mercury. A little semen won't hurt. Trust me." He chuckled at the comment. "Now, well you get between my legs or am I going to have to sit on your face for it?" He sighed and took the first option. He kissed her abdomen just before putting his face between her legs. Mercury gripped her asscheeks as he buried his face into Cinder's crotch, getting a loud, breathy moan out of her.

* * *

Blake and Ruby discussed details of the case after they returned to the precinct. "So, they're dealing drugs now?" Blake asked.

"Apparently. It seems like they're trying to cross trades. If there's a conflict that reveals where the others are, it could possibly lead us to Cinder if someone gets in on the arms trade."

"Nice work, Sergeant Rose. Make sure to pass my extra compliments on to your partner for making sure those girls were gonna make it out of that building." Ruby smiled at the praise.

"Nice work, Sergeant Rose," they heard Cardin's mocking voice say. He walked up behind them with a look of contempt on her face.

"Ugh," Ruby groaned, "come on, Cardin. Isn't there someone else you can go make miserable?"

He grumbled as he walked away. He tried to grab Blake's butt, but she pointed her gun at his hand. "Really?!"

"Fuck off, Winchester!" Blake yelled. She holstered the gun and turned back to Ruby. "Hopefully we can keep at least one of our suspects this time."

"Agreed."

* * *

Dave was strapped to a chair and started panicking while struggling to get free. He knew he was in trouble. Taurus was crazy, but at least he would let him die a quick death. He caught the attention of Cinder. She was a sadist and would make sure that this would hurt. And the woman rolled in a cart of tools to torture him with. He was sweating bullets when he saw her smirk and the psychotic glint in her eyes as she prepared to hurt him.

"Look," Dave stuttered. "I don't know anything about this. Alright? I was set up by someone! I'm not the snitch!"

Cinder picked up a cordless drill and powered it up. Dave's heart started to race as he heard the motor whirring. "We'll see about that. Now, what I was told was that there is a mole in my operation. I imagine you know who it is."

"I swear! I don't know nothing."

"Uh-huh. Sure." She casually placed the tip of the drill on the tip of one of his fingers. He shrieked as he felt the drill going through his finger.

"I'm telling you! Adam doesn't tell us shit!" She moved the drill to the other finger and pushed it down again, getting more high-pitched shrieking. "I swear!"

She placed the drill down and batted her eyelashes to entice him. "Do you really wanna make me angry, Davy?" Her finger gingerly traced his facial structure. "I know the Bull has one very bad temper, but if you make me angry and I have to kill you… it's not gonna be pretty." She flashed her teeth making a deranged smile. "So, I suggest that you don't make me angry because I absolutely love to hurt people." Her tone was sultry and seductive, but it did nothing to hide how sick the woman was. "Taurus might make you fear for your life," she continued as her hand slid down his chest and between his legs, "but I can make you wish I'd kill you." She held his crotch and squeezed hard, making Dave scream again.

"Please! Just let me go! I swear I'll give you everything I have if I have to!"

"Okay," Cinder replied, keeping up her gentle tone. "Then, I guess I want your teeth."

"WHAT?!" She grabbed her pliers and held them up for him to see. Absolute terror was on his face. "Wait! WAIT! NOT THIS!"

"You said you'd give me everything you have," she said in a false cutesy tone, "and I want your teeth. And I plan on taking them out one. By. One." The cute, seductive façade dropped as she forced his mouth open and got a grip on one his teeth with the pliers. What was left was a deranged expression. Nothing but bloodthirst and sadism in her eyes. She slowly pulled the tooth from his jaw, waiting for it to come free from his head. He screamed the whole time and whimpered as soon as the tooth was pulled free. Feeling the tooth rip from its root gave her a rush. She placed the bloody tooth on the tray. "Now, do you wanna lose the rest of them that painfully, or would you rather make this quick? Either way, you're gonna die. You just need to let me know how you want it to end."

He whimpered as he tried to ignore the pain in his mouth. Blood was already pouring from his mouth. "Okay… okay… I'll let you know… something…"

"What do you have for me, darling?"

"Adam is planning… to take the arms trade… and the drug trade…"

"Arms trade? That's my trade."

"He said that you're a bitchy egomaniac… that needs to be taken down a peg…"

"Hm. I'm guessing he's still a bit upset about me beating him in battle. That is some very valuable information. Thank you, Mr. Bronzewing."

"So, are you gonna… kill me now?"

Her smile grew as she picked up a pair of scissors. "Nope."

"What? You said you'd make it quick."

She shrugged as he forced his mouth open again and put the scissors inside it. "I lied." She used the scissors to cut his tongue in half. She waited for the blood to fill his mouth just before kissing him, taking in that blood, savoring the taste. "Mm… I'm gonna have fun with you Davy. And don't worry. I'll let Adam know you told me this, and I'll make sure he knows you were punished severely for this betrayal…"

* * *

Yang got dressed in her room as she prepared to go home for the night. Pyrrha said she was going home on her own for tonight, but she really didn't think it was a good idea. Still, Yang allowed her to do it. Pyrrha texted her to let her know that she made it home safely, and that made her feel better. As she picked up the cash she made from the night and stuffed it in her bra, she heard a knock on the door. Ugh, she thought, still lingering customers? She rolled her eyes as she went to the door. "I'm done for the day!" she yelled as she opened the door. "Come back to…" She was surprised to see a woman on the other side of the door holding a bag. _Why does she seem familiar?_ The woman put a finger to her lips before raising her sunglasses.

That's when Yang's eyes widened, and she immediately put her hands to her mouth to keep her from screaming. It was none other than Weiss Schnee. Weiss held up a wad of cash silently. Yang furiously nodded as she allowed the woman in her room. Yang shut the door as Weiss entered the room and put her bag on the table. "Thanks for not giving me away," Weiss said.

Yang, however, was insanely starstruck. She could barely remember how to speak when she saw the singer in her room, of all the places she could. "I… I have so many questions."

Weiss expected this response. "I know. I think that the best way to explain it simply is to say…" She took a deep breath while working up the courage to admit this. "…I'm a lesbian."

This confused Yang the most. "Then what's with you and Neptune?"

"My parents love me. They really do, but they wouldn't accept the fact that I'm a lesbian. They wanted grandkids and if they knew I wouldn't be able to give them that, they'd be heartbroken. Neptune was the compromise."

"Have you told him?"

Weiss shook her head. "He actually started to fall for me. I couldn't do that to him."

"But lying to him?"

"I didn't know what else I could do. Look, I'm already risking a lot just being here now. You can't tell anyone about this at all. I will pay you whatever you want just to keep you quiet."

Yang felt terrible for her. Having to hide how she is to avoid hurting the people she loved and innocent people who loved her. It seemed awful. She could see Weiss pleading her with her eyes. "You know… I usually don't cater to girls. I'm not even attracted to them, to be honest."

Weiss was let down when she heard that. "Okay, I'm sorry for coming here…" Her mood turned around when she saw Yang pulling off her jacket and her hopes were restored.

She looked at Weiss' confused expression with a smile. "What? Don't you like what you see?"

"Uh, no. I mean, I do. I do like it. You're a lovely…" Yang smiled as Weiss stammered through her answer. "But, I thought you weren't –"

"How much money did you bring with you?" she asked as she pulled off her shirt, revealing her bra and pulling out the earnings from earlier.

Weiss hesitated before answering, "Ten thousand." Yang could tell it was because she was very distracted by the sight of her boobs.

"Then let's fuck."

"Really?"

"You think I'm attracted to all of my customers? Having sex with you would be no worse than having sex with some old and/or hairy men who couldn't make a girl cum if they had an instruction manual to vaginas." Weiss laughed at the joke. "If you can pay, then we can fuck. Besides, with how much you can pay…" She sauntered closer to Weiss just before putting her hands on the popstar's shoulders and leaning over, giving the woman a good view of her cleavage. "…we can go with the Full-Night Super-Special. Twenty-five hundred dollars."

"Full-Night Super-Special?"

"A whole night of you and me doing whatever the fuck you want." Weiss chuckled at that. "And if you've had to have sex with Neptune, then I'm guessing you'll be wanting to let the full extent of your inner freak out." Weiss looked away from Yang, wiping tears from her eyes. "Hey, honey," she said as she turned Weiss' face to her, "my tits are down here."

Weiss laughed. "You… you're really letting me do anything I want?"

"Anything. Besides, you'll have more luck making me cum than other guys I've had to have sex with."

Suddenly, Weiss reached around Yang's neck and kissed her passionately while backing her onto the bed. Weiss pulled off her own pants and kicked them to the side as she unclasped Yang's bra. She removed the bra and sucked on Yang's nipples while unbuckling the blonde's pants, yanking them down. "You're really enthusiastic about this," Yang noted.

"You have no idea," Weiss replied as she kissed Yang's neck and caressed her body. "It's been years since I've even been able to touch a woman like this." Weiss went down and kissed her abdomen as she squeezed her breasts.

"You like those, don't you?"

"Mm-hm." Yang could already see Weiss rubbing her own panties. "Can you… eat me out?"

"Uh… I've never done it before, but I can try. But I need protection."

"Don't worry." Weiss went to her bag. As she did, Yang texted Pyrrha to say that she'd be staying behind with a last-minute client. Weiss came back with a pair of latex gloves and a dental dam. "I came prepared."

Yang smirked. "Don't tell me you have a strap-on in there, too." Weiss immediately pulled out the strap-on she borrowed from Coco. Yang couldn't help but laugh. "You really needed some pussy, didn't you?" Weiss went back to the bed and handed Yang one of the gloves. Yang pulled it on as she let Weiss lay on her back. Yang's fingers slid inside Weiss and she started fingering her, kissing her nipples as she did.

* * *

Nora Valkyrie was a third-grade teacher at Signal Elementary. She loved being with the children and enjoyed teaching. She had a natural talent for taking care of children. Today, she decided to take the class on a field trip to the city park. After everyone had aced their recent test, she felt they had earned it. She was joined by her teaching assistant, Velvet Scarlatina, an undergrad at Beacon University who was also aspiring to be a teacher. She helped her keep watch over the children and made sure they didn't go too far.

As the bus stopped in front of the park, Nora and Velvet let the children off the bus. "Alright, children!" Nora yelled. "Make sure not to head out too far away!" The kids ran out and both the teacher and the assistant took a seat on the bench. Nora sighed. "This is good, isn't it?"

"It's definitely nice to have a bit of a break," Velvet replied.

"Indeed, it is. I love teaching, but I'm glad to be taking a rest."

"Would you need to do this often? I wanna make sure I don't over-exhaust myself during this job?"

"Are you reconsidering, Velvet? You seem to have a real knack for working with these kids."

"I mean, not as good as you, Ms. Valkyrie."

Nora chuckled. "Now you're just trying to flatter me."

"Well, I've gotta get that recommendation letter somehow."

"Doing a good job might help with that."

"Who has the time to do that?" Velvet replied with a smirk.

"You're young. You'll learn soon enough. It'll be more satisfying to earn that rec rather than buttering me up for it."

"Who says buttering you up isn't work."

"Fair enough." Both women laughed at the joke.

"Ms. Valkyrie!" they heard a child say as two children ran up to the adults. "We found someone in a tree!"

"Someone in a tree? Oh, let's see that." The children took the redheaded teacher to this person in a tree. She wondered what they had found, but when they pointed at it… she wished she didn't know. She screamed as she saw the mutilated body of Dave Bronzewing hanging from the tree. "Velvet! Call the police!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **FUN FACTS:**  
>  * Yeah, Ren is bisexual. And yes, if you give good blowjobs, Ren is willing to overlook certain things.  
> * Decided that Raven isn't gonna be Yang's mom, so the Birds are in their mid-thirties.  
> * Qrow isn't going to be an alcoholic. With what he has to do, being constantly drunk would be more of a hindrance.  
> * If you noticed the uncomfortable undertones within the Birds' relationship, you're definitely not imagining those. It will be explained later in more detail.  
> * In case it wasn't clear enough, Cinder does legitimately get sexually aroused by violence. (I'll let you decide whether or not that's kinda hot or extremely disturbing.)  
> * Nora is almost thirty, actually older than Ren, and Velvet is no older than 22.
> 
> I hope you're liking how the story is going so far. Feel free to leave a comment and I look forward to getting the next chapter posted.


	5. Preparing to Light the Fires

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The police force gains a new recruit on the same day that they respond to the news of a new body found in the park.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **WARNING:** This chapter will have a brief scene of rape in it. (No longer than two paragraphs. I promise.) I just thought I'd warn you up front.
> 
> **June 9th Note:** Wanted to let you guys know I made some minor edits to the last chapter. Added a few things to the last scene. It has no bearing on the plot, but if you want to check that out, feel free.

Raven needed to oversee a large shipment of drugs that were going out to her suppliers out on the city. However, it seemed that the production was being slowed down, so she went back to the laboratory. She hoped she could see what was holding up her chief chemist, April Vernal. Vernal had worked with the Branwens for quite some time. She was one of the best around in providing excellent drugs. Meth so pure that it was basically glass, cocaine that gave you the best rush for even the most chronic users, and even heroin that gave you the highest of highs. They weren't keen on giving her up. Even Raven was reluctant about letting her go despite one… specific trait about Vernal that she didn't like.

A trait that she was reminded of when she walked into the lab. She found Vernal making out with another girl with a ponytail. _Typical_ , Raven thought. Vernal had her hair cut short and tended to wear a lot of men's t-shirts and dirty jeans, bordering on being a stereotype. She cleared her throat to let Vernal know she was there. Vernal looked annoyed, but the other girl was startled. "Vernal," Raven began, "who is this?"

Vernal gave an annoyed groan when the girl said, "April, I thought you said she wouldn't be here."

"I thought not," Vernal replied, "especially since I told her that I need room to work without you micromanaging."

"Well, I guess I was right not to leave you alone," Raven noted. "Now, who the hell is this?"

"Branwen, this is my new assistant, Ilia Amitola." Ilia meekly waved. "Ilia, this is my boss, Bitchy McCrabby-Pants." Raven sneered at the remark. "Anyways, I've been busy experimenting with new compounds for the meth, so I decided we could use a break."

"I need shipments out in the next five days. I don't have time for you to experiment and take make-out breaks. Do what I pay you to do, you useless lesbian!"

"Okay, back up! I am not useless. I will remind you that my drugs are the best on the market and have been lining you and your brother's pockets for years. It doesn't hurt to invent things. Besides, you don't have enough of the materials I need to mass-produce this new stuff."

"Then stick with the old ones and I'll take care of it later. And if find out that you and your little queer girlfriend are using this as an excuse to fuck on the job, I'll –"

"You'll do what?" Vernal meandered closer to Raven. "We both know you're not gonna hurt me or get rid of me. I'm the best chemist that dirty money can buy. You're stuck with me. So, can't you just be a dear and work with me?"

Vernal raised her hand to Raven's face to stroke her hair, but Raven grabbed it before she even got close. "I'm not getting involved in your dyke shit, Vernal."

"Why do you hate me so much? I'm just a girl with a lot of love to give. Who are you to say who I can and can't give it to?"

Raven tossed Vernal's hand to the side. "Look, I must admit that you are a great chemist even before I found out about this – though, it probably should've been obvious." Vernal scoffed. "And You're right. I'm not willing to let you go any time soon. Especially with Taurus butting in on our drug trade."

"The Bull?" If there was one thing they could agree on, it's that Taurus was not exactly the most pleasant person. Not even because he was a human-trafficker; she had worked with straight-up rapists before with no issue (they weren't raping her, so she didn't think it was her problem) and she knew her boss dabbled in the trade. It was something about Taurus that didn't sit well with her. Raven may have had some unpleasant traits, but the Bull was just generally unpleasant in her opinion. "If that motherfucker thinks he can take away my trade, he's got another thing coming."

"Exactly. That's why I need the good stuff to get out soon. Don't dilly-dally. Just stick with the regular recipes and get that stuff out."

"Don't you at least wanna try some of the new stuff?"

Raven sighed and said, "Fine, but make it quick."

Vernal took her through the lab to show her the new recipes. Raven dipped her finger in and took a taste of each. Vernal smiled, proud of her work. "Good shit, right?"

"Not bad. Now I remember why I keep you around." Vernal's smile broadened. "Tell me what you need, and I'll make sure you get enough to mass-produce it."

"I won't let you down."

"Please don't. And please stay on task."

As Raven left, Ilia came back into the lab with Vernal. "I'm starting to think I should've stayed in pharmacy school," Ilia griped.

"A little too late to be backing out now," Vernal stated. "Especially since you won't be accepted into any school with a criminal record. You knew what you signed up for. Mandatory minimums could keep **both of us** in there for life without parole. We can only get lucky that we get roomed together because you wouldn't last a day with the resident Big Bertha. If you do pull out, you better pray there's no connection between you and that Branwen bitch."

Ilia's eyes widened when she said, "I definitely don't wanna meet Big Bertha..."

"You got that right."

"Why do you keep working with her anyway?"

"Because the pay is good, no one else is offering, and kinda hot as you can see," Vernal bluntly replied. "That Cinder chick, though…" She let out a low whistle of satisfaction. "Trust me. If you saw her, you'd wanna fuck her where she stood. If she wasn't a psychotic pyro, I'd definitely hit that, no questions asked."

"April, I think you really need to consider working for someone else."

"Well, let's see my options. There's the human-trafficking psycho rapist, the sadistic bitch who lights people on fire, a crippled boy-band reject that deals with a trade I want nothing to do with or the homophobe who still pays me well and gives me everything I need to work." Ilia was speechless as she started to realize that the Branwens were Vernal's best option. "See what I'm getting at here, Ilia?"

"Yeah, I see your point."

"Exactly. Now, move that fine ass of yours and get back to work." She smirked as she gave Ilia a pat on the butt, causing the other girl to giggle.

 

* * *

 

Ruby and Ren were preparing to go in and take out Taurus' workers and arrest them for questioning. Everything was taken care of to catch them and probable cause for getting them. (The police chief still chewed out Ren for drawing his gun on someone who didn't pose an imminent threat, but Ren explained there wasn't much else he could do to keep them off his tail.) "So," Ruby started, "we know the plan, right?"

"We go in and arrest at least one of them," Ren replied. "The more we can get, the better. We've gone over this a dozen times."

"Okay. I'm just making sure we're on the same page."

"Are you concerned that I'll forget halfway through."

"No, but maybe your idea of how to take them out might be different from my idea. I don't want any confusion out on the field. People get hurt when bullets start flying because of bad communication." Ruby stared off into the distance before saying, "I speak from experience."

"Yeah, we all remember what happened with your last partner."

"You shoot a guy in the ass once and he never lets you forget it."

"Don't worry. If something like that happened, I'd forgive you." Ruby smiled. "Unless you shot me in the head."

"What?! Why?!"

"Because I'd be dead."

"People survive headshots."

"Not often. I doubt I'd be one of the lucky ones. Even if I was, I wouldn't be one of the luckier ones who get away without brain damage."

Soon, they saw the police chief, Peter Port, taking a young redheaded woman to their desks. "Officer Rose, Officer Ren," he said in his usual jovial manner. "I do hope you two are still preparing to arrest the Taurus associates."

"Yeah," Ruby replied. "Why is that?"

"The commissioner notified me of a transfer from a police station in Atlas, and thankfully, she came in today." The officers assumed it was the redhead in uniform. "Since I know you'll be taking down a trio of ne'er-do-wells, I thought having an extra hand on the operation might be beneficial."

"Salutations! Officer Penny Polendina," the woman said, holding her hand out for them. "Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Ruby Rose," she replied while shaking Polendina's hand. "Sergeant."

"Lie Ren.," he also replied while doing the same, "but most people go with 'Ren'."

"Well, now that you're all introduced," Port said, "I'll leave you to discuss how you'll carry out the arrest. I've already given her the necessary details."

Port left them alone and the three officers looked at each other. "It really is an honor," Penny said. "I've been serving in Atlas for two years and I'm ready to take on whatever Vale's underground has to offer. The criminal element will be no match for us."

"Hold your horses, Penny," Ruby said. "I know how tempting it is to go in guns-blazing, but we can't afford to do that. We have to play things delicately."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Ren added. "These guys don't fuck around. They're pretty dangerous, and quite sadistic, too."

"Well, no darn sadist is going to keep me from fighting them. I'm prepared for whatever they throw at me."

Her optimism was endearing to Ruby. But it was also dangerous. Which is why she had to shatter those perceptions. "Are you prepared for a lit match after being doused in kerosene? Because that's what Cinder usually throws your way."

"Who is Cinder?"

"Only one of the most dangerous mob bosses in Vale. She's evaded capture because she's careful. And she gets the name because she likes lighting people on fire to send a message. No one knows what her real name is. Except for her, presumably."

"And she will kill everyone you love for double-crossing her," Ren added. "It's never an empty threat."

"Oh," Penny replied. "Well, would it be wise for you to be going after these people if she knows that you're coming after her? You might be putting them in danger."

"Well, my wife already works as a homicide detective," Ruby stated, "so I have to worry about that every day anyway. Plus, I'm not about to let her take over the criminal underworld. She's not the kind of person you want going with unchecked power. There are three other bosses. Torchwick, Taurus, and Raven Branwen. They have a monopoly on certain black-market trades. We take them out, she'll just consolidate her power over them and she'll be virtually unstoppable."

"I see! Cutting off the head of the snake. Excellent tactic, Sergeant Rose."

"But first, we have to find it," Ren added, "and these arrests are what will help do that. We're looking for three guys connected to Taurus. I caught one of them selling drugs yesterday. It's about enough to go in and take them for arrest. It seems that lately, the bosses are trying to infringe on the others' respective monopolies. If we can find a way to connect them to Cinder, then it's game over for her."

"I think I understand."

"Good."

"Coming through," two detectives announced as they jogged past Ren. Following them was Blake.

"What's going on?" Ruby asked.

Blake replied, "Someone found another body in a tree."

"Another one?! Please tell me it was burned to a crisp at least." Ruby paused when she noticed the looks of confusion on her colleagues' faces. "Now that I think about it, that sounds really bad out of context."

"No kidding."

"I just meant we could say it was Cinder if it was."

"They say it wasn’t burned, but the way they described it wasn't pretty. They're heading to the park right now to give it a look."

"That sounds interesting," Penny said. "Might we get some pictures of it?"

"Wait," Ren exclaimed. "Which park?"

"Bridgeway Park," Blake answered. "Apparently, some kids from Signal found it."

"Shit. Ruby, cover for me." He rushed to follow the officers as he pulled out his phone. He remembered that Nora was taking the kids out for a field trip that day.

"What has him so worried?" Penny asked.

Ruby shrugged, but then she noticed her wife's confused face. "Oh," she said, "by the way, this is Officer Penny Polendina. She's a transfer from Atlas. Penny, this is my wife, Detective Blake Belladonna."

Blake offered her hand to shake. "Pleasure to meet you, Detective. I must say you are quite beautiful."

"Oh," Blake said, surprised by the compliment. "Why, thank you."

"You are most welcome, and I certainly hope you don't die a horrible gruesome death because your wife is going after a powerful and sadistic crime lord."

This only confused Ruby and Blake. "Uh… I hope you don't either?"

"Thank you, Blake!" she replied, oblivious to their discomfort.

 

Ren called Nora immediately, hoping she wasn't involved with this. _Pick up, pick up, pick up…_ He heard the phone ring once before she picked up. "Ren!" she yelled.

"Nora!" he exclaimed just after. "Thank God, you're alright."

"I am. I'm fine. Physically at least. I don't think I'll ever be able to get that image out of my head."

"It's not something you can really get used to." He remembered how many bodies he had to witness. It was never pretty no matter how many times he had seen it. "I'm coming over right now."

"You don't need to –"

"I'm coming. I want to be there for you."

"Aw! How sweet."

Ren smirked before saying, "I'll see you soon." He hung up as he followed the officers. "Hey, I'm coming with you guys."

"Does the chief know?" one of them asked.

He wasn't really ready to be chewed out for not following orders again, but he needed to check up on Nora. "It'll be fine."

The officer shrugged and said, "Your funeral." _I certainly hope not._

 

* * *

 

Emerald searched through the halls of Cinder's base searching for Mercury. Thankfully for Emerald, Cinder just needed him for a job and not just for sex. It still irked her how much time Cinder spent with him. She wished she was confident enough to just tell her how she felt, but it didn't help that she was kind of scared of her violent tendencies.

She then bumped into Mercury on his way out. "Watch out," he said.

Emerald grumbled at his lack of manners. "Cinder's looking for you."

"Does she wanna suck my dick or do I have another job that isn't a blowjob?" He chuckled at the joke as Emerald pouted. "Oh, come on. What are you? Jealous?"

"No!" she shouted before calming herself down. "She just needs a job taken care of right now. Something to do with Taurus."

However, Emerald's outburst didn't escape his notice. "Holy crap. You really are jealous of me, aren't you?" Her lack of response was all the response that he needed, and his smile grew. "Wow. Honestly, I don't think you even have a chance. Even if she was into girls, you're too soft for her. She tends to like the rough and rugged types like myself."

"Having fun stroking your own ego, asshole?"

"I'm sorry. Remind me, which one of us is fucking Cinder again? My point exactly. So, just sit back, make her coffee, kiss her feet – Lord knows I'm not doing it, I ain't into that stuff – and just settle for admiring from afar. While you're doing that, I'll be admiring her from inside her." He laughed as he headed to Cinder's office, angering Emerald.

 

* * *

 

Ren arrived at the crime scene with the other officers. He looked around to find Nora. He suddenly saw her and her assistant Velvet trying to calm the children down and get them back onto the bus. "Nora!" he shouted.

Nora looked up and saw her boyfriend. "Ren!" she replied. "Velvet, take care of the kids."

"Got it," she answered.

Nora ran up to him and jumped in her arms. "Thank God."

"I should be the one saying that," he said as he released her. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine, Ren. Honestly, I'd be more worried about the poor bastard over there." She pointed at the body.

"I'll be right back." He went to look at the body before the reporters barged in. Thankfully, the other cops were managing to successfully control the crowd. He even saw the reporters filming as they were setting up the scene. That's when he saw the body. It was mutilated to extremes with a Glasgow smile, missing fingers, and burn marks all over. Even one of his eyeballs was hanging from his head only on the optical nerve. As he got a better view of it, he started to realize who it was. Dave Bronzewing. One of Ruby and Ren's suspects. Dammit, he thought.

He walked back to Nora. "Look," he began. "I have to go, but I'll be back tonight for you. Okay?"

"Yeah, I'd like that," she replied. "It'll be helpful to have something to keep my mind off… that thing." She shuddered at the mention of it.

"Trust me. It's not easy to get used to for us either."

"Well, I'll see you soon." She kissed him on the lips before letting him go. He dialed a number on his phone while he walked away. She then turned to Velvet. "Got all the kids on the bus?"

"Yep," the assistant replied. "I counted four times just to make sure."

"Excellent." She got back on the bus to address the class of loquacious third-graders. "Everyone! Listen up!" While her students could get loud, she was always able to be louder. She found that it was a useful skill to have as a teacher. "Now, I know that things didn't go quite as planned, but we need to be patient and let the police officers do what they need to here before they say it's safe."

"Even the one you're dating?" one child asked.

When giving a quizzical expression, Velvet confirmed, "Seven of them were just watching you two."

"Oh," she replied before addressing the students. "Let's not focus on personal lives and focus on what the police are doing here."

"Is one of those things you?" a boy joked, making the whole bus laugh.

"Tyler!" She shouted. The entire class fell silent with fear as Nora shot daggers from her eyes. Her tone became chillingly low as she said, "Do I need to have a chat with your parents again?"

Tyler's eyes widened with fear at the mention of his parents. "No, Ms. Valkyrie." He knew that he needed to keep his mouth shut.

"That's what I thought."

 

* * *

 

Penny was talking with Blake and Ruby while getting to know them. And they learned an uncomfortable amount about her. She was discussing one investigation she was on back in Atlas and it was… interesting. "It turns out," Penny said, "that he didn't realize blood would be an ineffective lubricant. So, he was trying to find something better to use, but we got there before he could go anywhere. At least he kept his daughter in one piece. I would not wanna run DNA tests on every darn little bit of flesh."

Even Ruby, a woman who had several run-ins with the work of a sadistic mob boss, and Blake, a homicide detective who had seen quite a lot in her years, were aghast at the story the transfer was telling. "Yeah…" Blake replied nervously replied, "that would be a pain in the ass."

Penny, however, remained oblivious to the officer's discomfort. "Exactly! Anyways, he pleaded guilty to the charges and it was another case solved. I even have some pictures from the crime scene if you wanna see."

Before she pulled out her phone, Ruby and Blake shot the idea down. "No, it's fine. No need to show us."

"Yeah," Ruby added while nervously laughing, "I'm gonna be having my lunch break soon."

Penny shrugged before saying, "Oh well. They were pretty interesting. Almost as interesting as the bodies by the Panda Killer! And despite the name, he wasn't killing panda bears. Where the heck would he find pandas in Atlas? Am I right?" She laughed at the joke while Ruby and Blake joined in out of politeness.

Suddenly, another walking-uncomfortable-moment came up behind them in the form of Officer Winchester. He wore his trademark sleazy grin as he walked up to Penny. "Well, look at this cutie," Cardin said as Ruby and Blake rolled their eyes. "Are ya new here?"

The forgot to even mention Cardin before continuing, but they thought now was as good a time as any to warn her. "Penny," Ruby said, "this is Cardin Winchester. A police officer and sexual harassment lawsuit waiting to happen."

He ignored the insult as he went to shake her hand. "A pleasure to meet you, Penny."

Penny enthusiastically shook his hand and replied, "And it is a pleasure to meet you as well."

"No," Blake noted, "it really isn't."

"Ah, shut up, Belladonna," he replied before talking to Penny. "Honestly, they're just jealous because I've got your attention. They've been pining after me for years. They even said that they'd like me to be the first guy that they date." Ruby and Blake muttered obscenities under their breath out of frustration with the blatant lies he was telling.

Thankfully, even Penny wasn't oblivious enough to fall for that. "I doubt that's true since they said they've said that they're married and firmly lesbians."

"Oh, is that what they told you?"

"Yes. They also told me that they had already had sex with guys in college when discovering their sexuality. They said that they had no interest and preferred girls after all." Before she even finished her sentence, the wives were signaling to Penny to stop talking.

This infuriated Cardin. "What?! You're telling me you bitches have already fucked guys and you won't even try with me?!"

Ruby shrugged before saying, "You know… it was college. Who hasn't done some experimenting?"

"Sergeant Rose has a point," Penny added with a smile on her face. "It's a perfectly natural to experiment in college. I'm sure you've had sex with plenty of guys when you went there."

Ruby and Blake could barely contain their laughter when they heard that. The fact that Penny managed to look Cardin in the eye and insult him to his face (by accident, mind you) all on her first day was impressive. Cardin was so flabbergasted that he stormed off. "You know what? Fuck all of you dyke bitches! I don't need you!"

While the dark-haired officers were pleasantly stunned, Penny cheerfully replied. "I look forward to working with you, fellow colleague!" She kept her smile as she added, "Gosh. He seems like an interesting gentleman."

Before Ruby could make a joke about how ironic calling Cardin a gentleman was, she got a phone call. The caller ID showed it was Ren. "Hey, Ren!" she asked. "You should've been here just now. The new transfer officer just managed to embarrass Cardin. It was hilarious!"

"I'm sure it was," he replied in a more serious tone, "but I've got some more important news to tell you."

Ruby's smile dropped. "What's up?"

"I don't think you'll like this, but the body found in the park was Dave Bronzewing."

"Dammit!" She was frustrated to lose one of her suspects.

"Yeah. And considering the fact that Taurus would've just shot him and be done with it, I'm gonna be putting a pretty big bet that it was the fault of Cinder."

"Okay, okay. Then we've gotta make sure that Russel and Sky don't get taken out before we can bring them in for questioning."

"Agreed. I'll be back at the station in a little bit. Make sure Port doesn't notice I was gone."

"I'll do my best, but I'm not making any promises. I don't have superpowers. See you soon." She hung up and turned back to her colleagues. "Well, that was Ren telling me that the mutilated body of one of our suspects was found in the middle of a park."

"Did he send pictures?" Penny excitedly inquired.

Ruby had a confused look on her face, a little stunned by the question. "…No. But this means we'll need to track down Russel and Sky soon."

"I'll leave you to that," Blake stated as she kissed her wife's cheek. "Good luck, you guys."

"Thanks!" And with that, Penny and Ruby went back to work.

 

* * *

 

Taurus spent time in his chamber enjoying the company of one of the women he traffics. He tended to take a few of his own to enjoy. Cinder suggested that he might've had a fetish for misery since he never went with a girl that was willing. (Though, she didn't have much room to talk about a fetish for misery.) As he finished up inside the girl with a loud groan, he crushed her windpipe as he watched the tears flow from her face. Disturbingly, it was one of the few times that he actually smiled, and it was almost terrifying.

As he pulled out of her, she roughly tossed the naked girl on the ground and pulled up his pants, buckling them up. That's when a worker of his barged into the room. Taurus immediately picked up his gun. "Can't you see I'm busy here?!" he yelled, furious with the interruption. "What the hell do you want?!"

"Uh, well…" the man stammered, "you may wanna check the news…"

Taurus groaned and turned on the TV and saw the body of Dave hanging from a tree. "WHAT!" He knew exactly who was behind this infraction. Cinder. Even though it didn't have her signature method of presentation, he knew it was her. She knew about him making arms deals and this was her way of sending the message. "So, this is how she operates?! Declares a peace treaty and kills one of my men?!"

The worker resisted the urge to say that Taurus has regularly killed his own workers for pettier reasons. "Maybe cutting in on the arms trade might not have been a good idea."

As the two men argued, the girl tried to sneak away. Taurus shoved his gun in the man's face. "Don't question my decisions! We are going to make more money this way, and if she doesn't like it, she can go to Hell for all I care!" He suddenly noticed the girl leaving, and he started frantically shooting at her. "Where do you think you're going, fucking whore?!" She only had enough time to avoid the first two shots and scream. However, the rest of the bullets ripped through her. He was seething with anger while the girl choked on her own blood. "I need to get through to her now. If she's not going to take this out on the streets, then I'm going straight to her." He shoved past the man before yelling, "Get that mess cleaned up!" referring to the dying girl.

The man regretfully pulled out his own gun as he pointed it at her head. He could see her pleading with her eyes for him to save her. "Yeah, sorry about this, sweetheart. Trust me. This is a mercy kill." He gave her two shots to the head.

 

* * *

 

Weiss and Neptune sat on the couch watching the news of the body found in the park. She was beginning to become concerned with all that was happening recently. She started to think Glynda was right about this place. Not enough to change her decision, but enough to make her extremely cautious. She was still in a better mood after last night with Yang. She even gave her Weiss her number if she needed to arrange a time. That would be helpful. Still, her mood was slightly soured by the news of this new body.

Glynda was busy organizing work for Weiss' interview, scoffing at the report. "I can't believe this," she said. "That's two dead bodies just within this week. I can't see how this will be a good place to set up your business."

"Well," Neptune began, "if I know my little Snow Angel, she's not gonna let that turn her away." As he kissed her forehead, both women realized the inherent irony of him saying he knows her.

Weiss still smiled anyway to humor him. "Thanks, Neptune," she said.

"Very well," Glynda noted as she approached the front door. "I'll be back later tonight to pick you up for the interview. Make sure you two are ready."

"We will." With that, Glynda left the two alone. Weiss wasn't nervous at all. She does this all the time. Though now, she had to go on live television and pretend to be in love with Neptune. That made things a bit harder. She definitely had to prepare herself for this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **FUN FACTS:**  
>  * Vernal is about thirty whereas Ilia is at least in her mid-twenties.  
> * Yeah... her name is "April Vernal." If you know what "vernal" means, this will look like a pretty obvious connection.  
> * The reason Ilia dropped out of pharmacy school is that she hooked up with Vernal and was offered a job as her assistant. As you can see, things aren't panning out how she had hoped.  
> * Penny is human, obviously. (I know. It's a gosh-darn shame. So many _RoboCop_ jokes that could've been used... *sigh*)  
>  * Ren has had some trouble with Port before. I'll probably explain more of those incidents in later chapters.  
> * Penny is really interested in extremely creepy or macabre things. Part of why she became a police officer is to see some of this stuff firsthand. She's not malicious about it; she's still a genuine sweetheart.  
> * On that note, you may notice that Penny has some issues picking up on certain social cues. That's all I'll say. I didn't write her with a particular disorder in mind; I'm just creating one as I go based on certain character traits that I wanna use for her. (Feel free to diagnose her yourself if you think you can.)
> 
> If you have any questions that were not clear or just wanna leave your thoughts on the chapter, please leave a comment. I read all of them even if I don't respond to many of them. I thank you for the responses and I will try to answer questions as long as the answers won't spoil anything. I hope you enjoyed it and I look forward to writing the rest.


	6. Getting to Know the Other Players

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Qrow, Weiss, and Neptune all conduct their respective interviews. Penny is invited home by Ruby and Blake. Cinder continues to find ways of antagonizing Taurus.

Coco sat with the legendary late-night interviewer, David Reynolds, talking about her new fashion line and her friend's wedding. "So, Coco," he said, "you said that this newest line would be your magnum opus. Is that right?"

Coco chuckled and answered, "Well, I wouldn't say that much, but I am rather proud of it. Though, it is up to my usual standard. No doubt that you'll be blown away by it."

"And considering that you'll be designing the outfits for your friend's wedding, will you have time to finish it?"

"Of course, I will. She is my longtime friend after all. Thankfully, my workload isn't too cumbersome."

On the side, Qrow waited for his moment to go and talk about Raven. He took a deep breath and made sure he was in the right headspace for this. He looked around and suddenly saw Weiss Schnee with Neptune Vasilias. _Didn't expect that_ , he thought. _I guess it wouldn't hurt to make a good first impression._ He walked over to introduce himself. "Excuse me," he said. "I'm Qrow Branwen. It's nice to meet you."

Weiss shook his hand and smiled. "Nice to meet you as well, Qrow. Uh, are you a fan?"

"Well, I do appreciate your business sense. It's something I admire."

"Thank you. Not a lot of people appreciate a woman in business."

"I can definitely appreciate that." He already knew two working in the illegal business. He was related to one of them. "I'm also very good friends with the mayor, so if you need something done, I can hook it up."

"How do you know him?"

"More along the lines of an unofficial advisor. I can't promise that I'll get something for you, but if there's something you can't get for some reason, I can always put in a good word for you." She smiled at the idea.

Neptune returned to greet his fiancé. "How's it going, Snow Angel?" he said before kissing her on the cheek. "Who's this?"

"Qrow Branwen."

"Branwen? Wait, isn't your sister, like, a mob boss or something?" That caused Weiss to be skeptical.

Fortunately, Qrow was ready for this sort of question. "Yes, but we've been estranged for years now. I haven't even spoken to her in all this time. In fact, I was coming on tonight to clear some of those things up."

"Well, good on you."

"Let me guess, you're going to be discussing your recent engagement?"

Weiss nodded and said, "We're really excited for it. I couldn't have asked for a better guy." As Weiss pulled her closer. Qrow seemed to notice something in her eyes. Almost as if they were hiding something.

Suddenly, his manager came to talk to him. "Mr. Vasilias," he said. "We have your label on the phone and they want to ask you some questions."

Neptune rolled his eyes. "I'll be right back, babe," he told Weiss. "You know how it is." She nodded as he let him go. Neptune took the phone. "Hello…"

Qrow looked back at Weiss. "So, you're really excited about this, huh?" he asked.

"Yes," she answered. "Of course, I am."

"Uh-huh." He leaned in close and asked, "How long do you plan on keeping this up?"

Weiss froze. "What do you mean?" _There's no way he could possibly know_ , she thought.

"I know what it looks like trying to hide what you are. My sister tried to do it for years. And if you feel like coming out, I'll let you know I won't be surprised." When she saw his smirk, her mouth went in a straight line.

Coco finished her interview and came back to hug her friend. "Good luck, darling," Coco said. "I'll hopefully be back home to watch your interview."

"You're not staying behind?" Weiss asked.

"I wish I could, but I'll be supporting you. I'll see you later." She went with her limo driver and walked off.

The stage manager came up to give Qrow his mic pack. "Here's your mic, Mr. Branwen," she said. "Do you need help setting it up?"

"I'm good," he replied, taking the mic.

 

* * *

 

Cinder opened a weapon's crate for two potential customers. She didn't usually take care of the deals herself, but she sometimes liked to show people exactly what they had to look forward to. She took pride in showing off the new models that she brought into the city. She pulled out a handgun and showed it off for the two men. "Now, this is one of the newer models. This one can hold up to fifteen rounds. It's a standard .35 caliber and lightweight carbon-fiber body. All with a good old American steel barrel." She pulled out a training magazine and loaded it into the gun. Cinder handed it to the man. "Have a feel. Not bad, right?"

The man started aiming the gun and cocked the gun to test it. "Pretty good," he said. "You're outdoing yourself."

"Well, I'm not the one who made it, but I do know how to pull strings and get these things into the country. Like a lot of products these days, these ones were manufactured in China. Don't worry, I've had a bit of fun testing them out myself. From what I've tested, they don't jam, and they pack quite a punch."

"Sounds good, but what's the cost on these?"

"Well, for one gun, you're looking at about $200, not including ammo. The full crate will run you about $4,500 and that does include ammo."

"A bit pricier than your usual stuff," he stated as he handed her back the gun.

She took it and placed it back in the crate. "When you want the good stuff, you've gotta be willing to pay. Unless you wanna be buying American, you probably ought to think about that." She got a phone call in the middle of the deal and it was one she was expecting all day. "One moment, gentlemen." She stepped to the side to take the call while watching them, making sure that they didn't use the guns on her. Cinder saw the caller ID, and she smiled when she was confirmed to be correct. It was Taurus. She didn't hesitate to answer. "This is Cinder."

"Don't give me that bullshit, Cinder!" he yelled.

She kept a friendly tone only to mock him. "Adam. How lovely to talk to you again. Tell me, have you been feeling well? I know I quite rough with you during our little scuffle last time."

"I know what you did! I saw it on the news!"

"Whatever could you possibly mean?" She could feel his frustration even over the phone, and it pleased her.

"Dave. Bronzewing. His corpse was found by police. I know you're trying to pick off my men!"

"Honey, you were doing a mighty fine job of that yourself. You couldn't possibly be blaming me for your current employment situation."

She loved to play games with others and Taurus knew this. He knew she was just trying to rile him up enough make him play into her hands. He wouldn't stand for it. "Look here, you insufferable little bitch. You will suffer for this."

She chuckled at the thought. "Oh, please. That's just adorable. You think you know suffering better than I do? I **perfected** the art of causing suffering. The most you could ever do is kill me. Lord knows I still have enough manpower to crush your trade if I wanted to, so if you meant financial suffering, you've already failed at that."

"Are you mocking me?!"

"What gave it away?"

"Listen to me, Cinder!"

"No," she said more sternly, "you listen to me, **Taurus**. I know exactly what you're trying to do. I know you’re violating the terms of our truce just to get in on my trade. I was generous enough to make sure I didn't cause more bloodshed in the streets, but I had to make sure you got the message. Let it be a lesson to you. If you try to fuck with me or my business again, I'll show you what **true** suffering is." She hung up and went back to the gun deal. "Sorry about that. Some other business troubles, but it's all sorted out. Have you made a decision?"

"Yeah," he replied. "We'll take ten crates. How soon can you get them to us?"

"Not long. Just provide transportation and the payment and I'll set you up with a place to pick them up. Pleasure doing business with you."

 

* * *

 

Blake and Ruby decided to take Penny home with them to get to know her a bit better. They decided to do it on a whim since Ruby would need to work closely with her for the next few weeks. As she entered their house, Penny immediately noticed all the books and went straight for them. "Ooh!" she said. "You are such avid readers. I'm surprised you have the time to read all these."

"Actually," Ruby corrected, "most of these are Blake's. She's an even bigger bookworm than I am."

"I even maxed out on five library cards," Blake boasted. "I'm pretty proud of that."

"As you should be," Penny stated. "It is important to keep your mind as sharp as your body when you're in the field."

"Do you read a lot?"

"Well, I used to read plenty of books before joining the force, but I never could get the time. How do you do it?"

"I usually just read a chapter a night usually. That is if I'm not having sex with Ruby." Ruby blushed as she saw her wife's coy smile.

"That's so nice that you two are in such a loving relationship. I find that to be quite sweet."

"Thank you, Penny," Ruby said. "So, are you cool on staying over for dinner? We're no gourmet chefs, but we do make do with some pretty sweet meals."

"Just sharing a meal with you two will be enough. You have been so kind to me on my first day here. Most people wouldn't even give me that much attention when I was in Atlas."

"Really?"

"Yeah. They often said I was too weird for them. Which I find to be quite unfair in my opinion."

"I guess people can be dicks sometimes," Blake said.

"Don't worry. I don't take it personally. My mother always told me that a stranger is just a friend you haven't met yet. So, I take these things in stride. Often, I just wait for them to need me during an investigation and then they'll have to work with me. That's usually when I can make some more friends."

"Huh," Ruby said. "I guess that's one way to get people to notice you. Still, you shouldn't have to do that. You seem like a nice girl."

"Really?" Penny replied excitedly.

"Sure. I mean, still a little odd, but who isn't these days?"

"Oh, thank you, Ruby! That means so much to me!"

"No problem. Hell, even if we weren't gonna be partners, I'd still love to hang out sometime."

"I would like that. What about you, Blake? Would you like to spend some time together? We could always go to the library some time."

"Sounds nice," Blake replied. "I'll get the food started and we can eat. And, Penny, from one bookworm to another, if you wanna borrow some books, I wouldn't mind loaning you some."

"Do you have any Stephen King?" Ruby thought, _Why am I not surprised?_

"Only a couple."

"How about Clive Barker or Lovecraft? I do enjoy King, but those two are my favorites."

"Let me guess," Ruby said. "You've seen the new _IT_ movie."

"Absolutely! I was worried it wouldn't go well, but it did surprisingly better than I thought. Truly gruesome compared to the old movies. Not as good as the book though, but when are the movies ever as good as the books?" The three women chuckled at the joke.

"Alright," Blake said. "I'll go get dinner ready for us. You guys can spend some time talking about work if you want."

"Thank you!" She walked with Ruby to the living room. "So, Ruby, can you tell me more about this 'Cinder' woman?"

Ruby sighed just before explaining. "Well, she's something of an urban legend and yet she has an insane amount of influence in the criminal underworld."

"And the 'burning people alive' thing? Is there any reason for that?"

"Some people speculate that she's a pyromaniac, but I say she's just a sadist. She's done some pretty disturbing things to people. I think that she just favors fire because of how painful that sort of death is."

"That certainly makes sense." Ruby nodded. "So… do you have any picture."

Ruby chuckled. "Not on me, but if you ask the medical examiner about it, I'm sure he'd be happy to show you all of them."

"Yes!" Ruby found Penny's enthusiasm rather endearing. Even if she was getting excited about such gruesome topics. "How about these other bosses?"

"Well, there's Roman Torchwick, Adam Taurus, and Raven Branwen. Like we said earlier, they have a monopoly on certain black-market trades. Cinder has the corner on the arms trade, Taurus is a human trafficker, Torchwick sells black-market organs, and Branwen deals with the drug trade. However, they've been seen trying to infringe on the other trades."

"Branwen… Where have I heard that name before?"

"You may be thinking of Qrow Branwen. He's her brother that works in the government."

"Why haven't you asked him?"

"I've tried. To this day, he still insists that he hadn't talked to her in years. I think we were right to ask him, but we can't get any leads for him."

"I'm sure you'll do it, Ruby," Penny responded with a smile. "You are rather determined, and I doubt you'll let anyone stop you."

"Heh. You're not wrong about that."

 

* * *

 

Qrow took a seat next to Reynolds as he began the questions. Qrow tried to ignore the studio audience while he was answering the questions. "I have to say," Reynolds said, "It is quite a pleasure to meet you here, Qrow."

"Thank you," Qrow replied. "I'm rather honored to be here."

"Oh, come on. Now you're just flattering me. It's not the Oscars." The audience laughed as Qrow smiled. "Now, there is one thing that it is really important that I ask you… Is that your real name?" Qrow chuckled. It wasn't the first time he got the question and Reynolds had to lighten the mood for the interview. He knew how these beats went.

"Yes, that is my real name. 'Crow' with a 'Q'. My parents were being rather imaginative with that one."

"I'm guessing they liked birds to considering your sister's name."

"Something like that."

"Speaking of your sister, many people seem to think that you have some kind of connection to her criminal enterprise, and you wanted to come on to set the record straight."

Now they were into the meat of the interview. "Yes. I did want to mention that. And let me be clear. I do not want to associate with her anymore. Sharing the same DNA is more than enough for me." The crowd laughed at the joke. "I would like to say that I haven't talked to her in close to fifteen years. She left when I was heading to college and I guess she started being a criminal at that time. I haven't followed up with her."

"What? She hasn't tracked you down to try and get in touch?"

"You make her sound like a vengeful ex-lover." While he laughed along with the audience, it wasn't something he was comfortable bringing up.

"Yeah, that would be kinda weird. 'You never text me anymore,'" he said in a mocking, high-pitched voice. "'Why haven't you returned my calls? Mom always liked me better than you.'"

"Well, considering the fact that I went into politics – arguably a more corrupt profession when you think about it," he said. He let the audience laugh before continuing, "I couldn't really get associated with her or get back in touch. One photo from a determined paparazzi and that's the end of my career."

"Believe me, I know how the paparazzi can be. Have you ever been caught balls-deep inside some mistress you were seeing after-hours?"

The crowd laughed again as Qrow shook his head. "Can't say that I have."

"Me either," Reynolds replied in a deadpan manner. Qrow realized what he was doing and laughed along to keep up appearances. "But, you have to have something to say to her. I mean, I know that my siblings would love to say a lot about me. They may get on your nerves, but they're still family."

"Well, my family wasn't always the greatest, so I can't say anything positive about her. And all the things I could say are probably not allowed to be broadcast."

The audience laughed before Reynolds replied, "The good thing is that its late night. You can say whatever the fuck you want."

Qrow smiled. "I'm still not gonna. I wouldn't stoop that low."

The two moved on to talking more about Qrow's political ties and how he was helping out Mayor Ironwood with reshaping the government. Reynolds threw in the occasional bad joke here and there, but he made sure that the questions were good. It wasn't long until the interview ended and Qrow was free to leave.

As he went backstage, he removed the mic pack and handed it back to the stage manager. "Thank you," he said as he went out back to get to his ride. The black car drove up to the curb and his security team opened the door for him as he stepped inside. As the door closed, he got a call from Raven. He dreaded it as soon as he saw her caller ID. He answered and said, "Hello?"

"Just saw the interview," she replied. "Not bad."

"Really? Even with all the shit that I said about you?"

"The 'vengeful ex-lover' crack might've been a bit much."

"Do you really want me to say something to that?"

"You're not on the air, so you don't have to worry about your inappropriate insults being broadcast."

"Thanks, Rae," he sarcastically replied. "I really appreciate you letting me know I had some freedom to speak my mind."

"Fuck you." Qrow rolled his eyes. "What's on the agenda for tomorrow?"

"A lot of political ass-kissing and a lot of 'incentivizing' potential colleagues."

"I do hope that 'incentivizing' means giving bribes and not sucking dicks."

"Seems to work for you."

Raven didn't reply and Qrow knew she wasn't happy about it. "You know, watching that interview made me think of how charming you really are."

"Raven…"

"I'm serious. Why not consider picking up some hot secretary while you're down at City Hall tomorrow?"

"I… I will do that on my own time."

"That's what you said five years ago and then –" He hung up on her, not wanting to continue this conversation. He knew where it was going, and he **never** liked that place. That didn't stop her from texting him seconds later.

**Raven:** Y'know, you could've just asked me not to talk about it instead of hanging up like an asshole.  
**Raven:** Forget what I said about you being charming. You shouldn't be hanging up on a lady.  
**Qrow:** YOU are no lady, Rae.  
**Raven:** Typical. smh  
**Raven:** Just be sure you have everything ready for tomorrow's schedule. Okay?  
**Raven:** Goodnight.

He stuffed the phone back in his pocket as he continued the ride in silence.

 

* * *

 

Jaune was on top of Pyrrha as he pumped into her, trying to keep himself from shooting off early again. To his credit, he lasted longer for this time, but he groaned trying to keep from cumming too early. Pyrrha was still encouraging to him. "You can slow down if you want," she said.

"No," he grunted, "I can do this." He picked up his pace as Pyrrha wrapped her arms around his back, pulling him closer. Unfortunately, he still came despite his efforts to hold back. Out of breath, he asked, "How long… was that?"

"Uh…" She looked at her clock. "About… two minutes." He groaned with frustration, disappointed with his performance. "No! No! Don't worry. You're doing better."

"I don't need you to patronize me Pyrrha."

"I'm not! I mean it." She held his face to get him to look her in the eye. "Look, I'm not judging you. You're doing fine. You just need to stop being so nervous."

"Easy for you to say."

"It's true. Just relax, Jaune."

"But when I relax, I don't pay attention and I cum early again. When I'm nervous, it still doesn't help." He pulled out of her and grabbed a pillow. He shoved it to his face and started screaming. Pyrrha could've sworn she heard some sobbing, too.

"Do you want to go again?" she asked as he pulled off his condom. "It could help."

"No," he replied, muffled by the pillow.

He tossed it to the side as Pyrrha wrapped her arms around him. "Come on. I think you'll do better this time."

"I've already tried four times."

"Well, you still have about half an hour. It couldn't hurt."

Jaune sighed. "Maybe a handjob would be fine."

She stepped away to grab another condom. "Want me to finish you off?"

"Sure." Pyrrha returned while opening the condom. "Wait! Weiss is gonna be on David Reynolds' show tonight! I almost forgot!" Pyrrha was let down when he immediately turned on the TV and changed the channel to the interview.

"Do you… still want the handjob, though?"

"Huh? Oh, sure. I guess."

 

* * *

 

Weiss and Neptune sat next to David, prepared to answer whatever questions and take whatever bad jokes he had for them. "Weiss, Neptune," he said, "thank you for appearing on this show. I know you two must be rather busy. In more ways than one." The audience laughed.

Neptune genuinely chuckled, but Weiss only chuckled out of politeness. "Well," Neptune began, "I don't think that sort of thing should be something we need to talk about tonight."

"Or at all," Weiss added, much to the audience's amusement. "Probably best to keep that between us." This got some more laughter out of the crowd.

Reynolds continued with the interview. "So, Weiss Schnee, the VIP guest of Vale. I hear the Mayor has been trying to get very friendly while you start up more business here. Is he trying to get free tickets to the concert?"

Weiss laughed with the audience. "If he is, then he's going to get a rather huge disappointment when I tell him that even I'm having trouble getting tickets."

"It's true," Neptune confirmed. "I'll, unfortunately, have to leave before the concert, but I have tried to get some tickets and they are a bitch to find."

David continued, "Well, I cannot wait to hear you live in concert. You have such an amazing voice."

"Oh, stop," she replied, humbling herself.

"I mean it! Honestly, I wish I could sing at least half as well as you can. That way, my wife won't get angry with me when I sing in the shower." The couple laughed. "Speaking of which, we should get on the topic of marriage in a minute, but I have to ask, do you sing in the shower?"

"Uh, surprisingly enough, no. I just don't."

"Bullshit! I don't believe that!" She laughed at his assertion. "Neptune, does she?"

"Not that I've heard," he answered.

"Well, I guess you'll hear for sure when you guys finally get married!" The audience cheered, and it Weiss felt a pain inside her. She wasn't willing to accept the praise for this lie. But she had to keep up her mask. "When is the wedding officially."

"It'll be some time after Weiss gets out of Vale. We've been planning for almost a year and we'll have more than enough time to get the final preparations ready for the ceremony."

"Are you looking forward to it, Weiss?"

_Time for the acting skills_ , she thought while holding Neptune's hand. "Absolutely," she replied. "I honestly could not have found a more handsome and kind man to marry." The crowd let out a collective "Aw" at the comment, making her feel even worse about it. Not that they'd be able to tell.

 

* * *

 

Roman walked into Dr. Watts' storage room holding the harvested organs to talk to him. "So, what's the problem?" Torchwick asked.

Watts looked at all his charts. "It's not looking very good. We're having trouble finding matches for our clients."

"Wasn't there a lot more organs brought in last night?"

"Mr. Torchwick, it helps when the organs aren't rejected by those accepting the organs."

"Goddammit…" Torchwick rubbed his temples. "We need to bring in more organs, but we can't really have people going out kidnapping people."

"Well, if you had someone stealthy, it wouldn't be a problem. However, Rainart isn't the most inconspicuous character."

"We need to figure something out! Our trade isn't exactly gaining a lot of money on the streets these days. And finding adequate doctors to perform the transplants is difficult. I thought you could just do it yourself."

"Torchwick, even an appendectomy would require at least six people in the OR. The lack of doctors is the reason you need a cane to walk."

"Oh, so it's not because you're a shitty doctor who can't perform a simple knee surgery?"

"I need staff! Technicians! Anesthesiologists! If I can't get a surgery team, what I can do is limited. You're lucky you can walk at all."

"Fine! Fine! I'm tired of arguing this. I'll look for the doctors and try to get more organs. I guess I'll have to talk to Rainart about this." He walked away with a vice-like grip on his cane, frustrated with his current circumstances.

 

* * *

 

Nora laid in bed while she flipped through channels, waiting for Ren to return to bed. She allowed him to sleep there for the time being since his last boyfriend was in prison. (He definitely couldn't stay in the apartment he had since it was repossessed.) She sat in a dark tank-top and panties, and she was very pleased with the sight she saw when Ren walked in. She saw his lean yet chiseled figure wearing nothing but a pair of boxer briefs. She liked it because it was it helped to "advertise the merchandise" as she put it.

He climbed into bed with her as she smiled. "Again, sorry about today," Ren said as she kissed Nora's forehead.

"You don't need to apologize, Renny," she replied. "It's not like you can control where dead bodies show up."

"But it's something I should've had better control over. It's not even the first one this week. And I can't imagine how the kids were feeling. Especially the ones who found the body.

"Yeah, therapy is definitely in their future. It's a hell of a way to ruin a field trip."

"At least you didn't get in trouble with your boss for it."

"By the way, how did old Port respond to the fact that you went beyond orders again?"

"As usual, he chewed me out for trying to butt in on an investigation with personal connections, but once I explained it was a suspect I was tracking, he seemed to be more forgiving."

"Lucky for you. I found one of your suspects."

"Not really. We needed to follow him, so that trail has run cold."

"That is a shame, but…" She placed her hand on his chest and let it travel down further into his underwear. "…I think I know one trail that's still hot that you can follow."

Ren smirked as Nora fondled his crotch. "You've been waiting to use that line, haven't you?"

"Less talking, more fucking, handsome." She felt his bulge grow as she kissed him passionately. He pulled her panties down as he hovered over her. He pulled his own underwear down and inserted himself inside her, thrusting slowly but forcefully as he kissed her neck.

 

* * *

 

Cardin was taken through an abandoned building by Emerald. Cinder wanted to speak to him personally and she didn't want him knowing where her base of operations was. He could've used it as leverage. "You know, the boss could've picked a better place to have this talk," he complained. "I'm just saying, if I was as loaded as her, I wouldn't be conducting meetings in some shabby, rundown craphole."

"She does this to protect her the location of her base," Emerald respond.

"Well, at least she has the decency to bring along her sexy secretaries." He brazenly grazed her breast, causing her to tense up and shudder. "Oh, they are real. I've been wondering about that. That's good. You know, I always enjoyed a bit of dark chocolate."

"And I'd rather not continue these interactions."

"Your lips say no, but the cleavage you keep showing off says yes." He kept up his sleazy smile.

Emerald tried to move on from this moment and opened the door to the room where Cinder was going to be. "She's in here."

"Thank you very much, hot stuff." He entered the room and saw Cinder in a light-gray minidress, standing in the corner of the room. There was only one open window letting in the moonlight. "No guards?" he noted when he noticed that they were the only two people in the room. "I'm surprised. For how paranoid you are, I'd think you'd wanna keep some extra guards around to make sure I don't kill you or something."

"I don't think you'd be stupid enough to do that," Cinder answered. "It's the only way you'll ever be getting paid for your work."

"Fair enough. So, what brings me to you right now?"

"The Bull is still persistent in trying to interfere with my business. I need to make sure that I have eyes on any arrests that come into the VPD to make sure he isn't trying to cut into my trade. That's all I wanna know."

"That's all? So, just let you know when one of Taurus' men come into the station?"

"And report what they were arrested for. If it was for arms dealing, I'll know that he's been sticking his nose in places he doesn't need to be." Cinder sauntered to the window. "I'm sure you understand the need for clairvoyance in this business." Cardin watched as Cinder rested her hands on the window sill as she bent over, looking down at the city. "I need to have eyes in all the important places."

Cardin couldn't help but take the bait. He walked over slowly to the woman. "Oh, I absolutely know the need to have eyes on important places." He walked up and shamelessly pressed his groin against Cinder's butt, but Cinder didn't react. "And if you want those eyes, I think that you should probably add some extra incentive to make me more inclined to work for you if you know what I mean." Cardin placed his hands on her hips and said, "And maybe, it'll be something that you can also enjoy."

She let out a seductive chuckle as she felt something hard against her butt. "Would that happen to be your gun, officer?"

"Might be a gun that you'll enjoy shooting."

She reached back and rubbed the growing erection in his pants. "You think you're so suave, don't you?" She suddenly tightened her grip, causing the man to wince in pain. She turned around and kept up her alluring expression. "How's this for an incentive. You help me get the information I need, and I don't turn you into a pile of fucking ashes." She shoved him back with her other hand as her expression became more intimidating. "Don't ever think that you can treat me like some coworker of yours. Unlike them, I'm not afraid of giving you exactly what you deserve. And if you seriously thought you'd ever have a chance with this," she said gesturing to her own body, "then you're either dumber than I thought or outright delusional."

Cinder went back to the window and sat on the edge as Cardin tried to hold his sore crotch. "Fine, I get it."

"I hope you do, Winchester."

"Do I at least get extra pay?"

"Well, I was considering it before that shit you just tried to pull with me, but now, I think that your usual pay will do just fine." He scowled at her. "Don't act like you didn't bring it upon yourself," she said with a grin. "By the way, feeling down there, you're probably about five inches at best. Kinda overselling yourself there." This insult annoyed him even more. "Run along now." He left in a worse mood than when he entered. While she was used to people trying to make moves on her, she knew how to handle herself. Cardin was nothing compared to her. The sooner he realized that fact, the better off things would be for him.

 

* * *

 

Ruby got in bed with Blake as she kept reading her book. "So," she began, "what do you think of Penny? Does she seem like a good officer?"

"She's not bad," Blake answered. "Definitely a bit eccentric in many ways, but I don't think she'll be bad. She's already got two years of experience.

"In Atlas, though. That place barely has any crime there."

"Except for that weirdo trying to use blood as lube."

"Which is oddly the least disturbing aspect of that story." Ruby shuddered.

"Not nearly as bad as the Panda Killer. How stupid can the news be, though? They named him that because his first victim was wearing a panda shirt?"

"Definitely an odd way to name a serial killer."

"Got that right."

Ruby got comfortable as she laid in bed. "Well, I guess we'll see how good she is tomorrow. I'm turning in early for tonight."

Blake smirked. "Then I'll try to read a bit more of this book."

"Hey, do you think you could try reading something to me as I go to sleep? You know, like we used to do?"

"Heh. I still can't believe you wanted me to do that in the first place."

"I like listening to you read."

"Well, if I find something we'll both like, I'll do it."

"Awesome. Then I guess it's time to go to sleep for now. Goodnight, Blake."

"Goodnight, Ruby." She leaned over and kissed Ruby's forehead, causing her wife to smile as she went back to her book.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **FUN FACTS:**  
>  * I don't anticipate using David Reynolds later on in the story. I was going to use Lisa Lavender in his place, but she didn't seem like the right fit for this show.  
> * I know it's a joke about Ruby that she has a weapons fetish in canon, but while this version doesn't have that, I will say that this version of Cinder may or may not have this particular fetish. (I'll let you decide based on how I portray it.)  
> * Penny, of course, is a huge fan of the horror genre.  
> * No, Weiss wasn't lying about singing in the shower. She just doesn't.  
> * Ren's boyfriend used a lot of the money he stole to buy an apartment, and since Ren's apartment was kinda crappy, he stayed over there. Since it was repossessed, he ended up having to bunk with Nora.  
> * Ren is eight inches. ~~You know what I mean. ;)~~ This has no relevance to anything in the plot, but for some reason, I couldn't let you guys go without knowing that.  
>  * Ruby and Blake like to watch cop shows and lean over to each other to whisper, "It wouldn't happen like that." (It has no relevance in the plot, but I needed to tell you that. I just found that idea kinda cute.)
> 
> More things are going on in this chapter, and more revelations will be made in the next chapter. A lot of things that I'm looking forward to revealing to you guys and might change a lot about how you think of certain characters. ("Might" being the keyword. I don't wanna oversell it ~~like Cardin does when talking about his dick~~.)
> 
> As always, I look forward to your comments and I thank you for the compliments you've given me about the story so far. If you want to tell me your thoughts or just ask a question, leave it down below. (I read all of them even if I don't respond to many of them.) I'll try to answer questions as long as they won't spoil anything I don't want to reveal yet.


	7. Progress for All Fronts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Ren is left to do desk duty, Ruby and Penny go after Sky and Russel. Meanwhile, Taurus is met with an unwelcome surprise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's official! This single chapter of the story is about 300 words longer than Prelude to Chorus! I think it's safe to say that this one is going to be one long frickin' story.
> 
>  **WARNING:** There is a rape scene near the end of this chapter. Just as a heads up. Feel free to skip it if you want.

Qrow went to the house of a man he was very close to, Harvey Hart. He was a lawyer that he worked very closely with and he helped him with several possible legal issues. Qrow was planning on meeting with him tomorrow, but he absolutely needed to see him now. Qrow walked up to Harvey's front door and knocked, waiting for him to answer.

It didn't take long for the green-eyed blond lawyer to open the door. Harvey was shocked to see Qrow at his doorstep. "Qrow?" Harvey asked. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Can I come in?" Qrow asked in return. "It's really important. Honestly."

Harvey sighed. "Come in."

"Thank you," Qrow replied as he entered the man's house.

"So, what's this all about? We're not supposed to be talking until tomorrow."

"I know, I know. I just…" Qrow rubbed the back of his head nervously. "I really needed to see you tonight. Like I said, it's really important."

"What is this about?"

Qrow was silent… and then he pushed Harvey against a wall. He looked deeply into his eyes before kissing him passionately. "This."

"Oh… I guess you –"

"Yeah. Exactly."

Harvey looked to his bedroom. "I guess you could stay over for the night."

"Thank you. Now, let's get to something else." He kissed Harvey again before saying, "It has been weeks since we had some time alone together."

"I agree." Harvey led Qrow to the bedroom while the latter started unbuttoning his shirt. Qrow pulled off Harvey's shirt and kissed his chest, going all the way down his abdomen before pulling down Harvey's pants.

Qrow smiled at the sight. "I see you've been doing a bit of trimming down there. Expecting any visitors."

Harvey shrugged. "Maybe one in particular." Qrow took the member in his mouth and sucked on it until Harvey was fully erect. Qrow kept sucking him off as Harvey ran his hands through Qrow's disheveled hair. Harvey let out low moans as he felt his lover's lips around him. "You know, you're still great at that."

"I might be a bit out of practice."

"Honestly, it's tough to do a bad job of it." Qrow kept going as he heard the sounds of Harvey's grunting going louder. "Yes…" he whispered. Qrow moaned into Harvey's member as he bobbed his head further. It took only a few minutes before Harvey climaxed with a loud groan. It was a sound that Qrow dearly missed hearing after so long. Qrow kept his mouth on the man's member until Harvey was done. "Fuck…" Harvey sighed before Qrow kissed him again.

"You really missed me?"

"How could I not? I mean, it's not like there are a lot of guys out there that I date."

"If it was really that bad, I'm surprised you didn't try going out on dating sites. I'm sure you'd be able to find tons of guys."

Harvey smiled. "I'm fine with you." His eye traveled down to Qrow's lap, and he noticed the tent in his pants. "And it seems like you still missed me, too." He unbuckled Qrow's belt and pulled down his pants, but Qrow stopped him from getting his head between his legs. Harvey paused and realized why he did that. "Still?" Qrow solemnly looked aside. "You can't hide from this forever, you know."

"I know, but…" Qrow had a difficult time explaining how he felt.

"Well, I'm not leaving you blue-balled." Harvey grabbed a bottle of lotion on his dresser and started pumping out some for Qrow.

"I'm surprised you still have enough for me."

"I don't jerk off that often," he said as he chuckled. Harvey lathered Qrow's member and jerked him off. Qrow's breath was already losing rhythm. "How long has it been?"

"Too long…" Qrow moaned as he chuckled. He bit his lip as Harvey kept a slow pace.

"Try to keep it off the sheets," Havey quipped. Qrow smirked as he leaned back on the bed. Harvey even nibbled his earlobe as he picked up the pace, and Qrow's grunts picked up in turn. Qrow grabbed his thigh as Harvey went faster. Soon, Qrow reached his climax, calling out Harvey's name.

"Thank you…"

"Don't mention it." Harvey found some tissues to clean up the mess when Qrow's phone rang.

"Can you toss that to me?" Harvey found the phone in the pair of pants left on the floor. He tossed it to Qrow, who immediately looked the caller ID. "Ironwood," he said with a sigh. "This'll take a minute." Harvey stood by and waited while Qrow answered the phone. "Is there something you need."

"Actually," Ironwood replied, "I was wondering if you would mind if I move the meeting to a later hour. I have a last-minute meeting that came up and it's important that I'm there."

It wasn't the first time they had to reschedule because of some political duties that the mayor had, so Qrow allowed it this time as well. "No, that's absolutely fine. Just give me the time for when and I'll be there."

Ironwood breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank God. I've had too much on my plate as is. I'll see you at 2:30."

"Works for me."

"Also, I should let you know that the commissioner will be there." Now that was a problem for Qrow. He had an easier time manipulating politicians, but Ozpin was not corrupt in the slightest. He may have been tied down by bureaucracy one too many times, but he was a good man. The kind of thing that was dangerous to be up against – especially when they're police officers.

Suddenly, the extra time before the meeting was going to be useful. "Good to know. Thanks."

"You take care, Branwen." Ironwood hung up and Qrow placed his phone on the nightstand.

"What's up?" Harvey asked.

Qrow answered, "I might need your help. Ozpin's gonna be at the meeting. This guy is squeaky clean, and I need to throw off suspicions."

"Dammit…"

"Yeah, I know."

"It might be a bit difficult. I can give you basics, but there's a lot of nuances. You miss one detail, he'll be on you."

"Then we'll take all night if we have to." Harvey looked away. "Come on. What can I do to make you help me?"

"It's just too risky."

"Well…" Qrow leaned in to whisper, "I could let you inside me for a bit. I know you've been dying to stick it in there. And if you help me, I'll let you fuck my ass until the sun comes up." Harvey's eyes widened at the proposition. "What do you say to that?"

"I guess I can help."

Qrow smiled before kissing him on the cheek. "I knew you would."

 

* * *

 

Port sat in his office with Ren, Ruby, and Penny. Port was particularly focused on Ren in particular with his behavior from yesterday. "I hope you understand," Port began, "that this isn't something I want to see happen again. Do not bring personal matters into this job."

"But, sir," Ren answered, "the body that was found was one of the suspects from our investigation."

"Damn!" He slammed his fist on the desk. "Cruel fate! Alright. I guess I understand that. However, did you know it was one of your suspects before you went over there?" Ren looked down at his lap. "That's what I thought. I won't punish you for this, Officer Ren, but you do need to understand that you can't go acting on your personal matters in this job. Frankly, that how we get lawsuits and that's the last thing we need. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Then, for today only at least, you'll be taken off this investigation. If you get leads while you’re here in the precinct, you are free to follow them after reporting to me. Otherwise, you are to stay out of it. Until then, Sergeant Rose, you shall be taking Officer Polendina with you to arrest the remaining two suspects."

"Understood," Ruby replied.

"Ready for duty, Chief," Penny answered.

"You are dismissed," Port announced. The three officers rose from their seats and left the office. Once outside, they made their way back to their desk.

"Well, that's not exactly ideal," Ruby said. "I guess you're stuck on desk duty for the day."

"It's no big deal," Ren admitted. "I'm sure you and Penny can handle this."

"Darn right, we are!" Penny yelled as she put her arm around Ruby. "Look out, criminal scum! You're facing the fury of Rose and Polendina!"

Ren and Ruby smiled at Penny's enthusiasm. At that moment, Sun and Blake were bringing in a screaming man with a ponytail. "I demand to consult my attorney!" he shouted. "This sort of treatment is abominable! You unrestrained lawmen are only attaining me due to unfortunate circumstance! I am an innocent man who does not deserves such aggressive behavior!"

"We saw you," Blake confirmed, "standing over the woman's body with the bloody knife in your hand! How are you the victim of 'unfortunate circumstance'?"

"I was holding that knife for an acquaintance of mine as I came in and saw the body. I would have alerted the police, but he gave it to me as soon as he realized it and I could not be incarcerated upon such a pretense."

"Hey, buddy," Sun replied. "We told you that you have the right to remain silent. I suggest you use it." The officers handed him off to some other cops. "Take him in for processing."

Blake joined Ruby, Ren, and Penny. "That sounds like a hell of a story," Ruby said.

Blake replied, "Some lunatic that we caught in the act. Honestly, he has to be crazy if he thinks any of those defenses are gonna work. What's up with you guys."

"Ren's got desk duty today."

"Ooh. Sorry, man."

"It's fine," Ren answered.

"Well, Sun and I will be staying here for most of the day, so feel free to stop by and chat. We won't mind."

"Thanks."

Penny stated, "And I guess we should be getting to work as well. Let's bust this case wide open, Sergeant Rose." Penny took Ruby away to talk about their plan for apprehending Sky and Russel.

 

* * *

 

Cinder sat at her desk, waiting for Mercury to respond to her, letting her know if he was prepared to carry out the task she asked of him. She held her phone as she watched the news, looking for reports of Adam's men being arrested. (She frankly didn't trust Cardin, so she made sure she saw for herself.) It wasn't long until she got the call. "Mercury? What's the status?" she said.

"I'm in position," he replied. "Won't be too hard to break in and hopefully, this won't be too difficult."

"Good. Just remember not to use force unless you need to."

"I got it, Cinder. This isn't my first rodeo."

Cinder smiled. "That's what I like to hear from you. Report to me once you're done." Cinder hung up just as soon as Emerald knocked on the door. "Come in."

Emerald hesitantly entered while holding a smartphone. "Cinder," she said, "I have the photos. The spy took a lot."

Emerald handed her the phone and Cinder looked through the photo gallery. "These are some good pictures. Remind me to pass along my thanks the next time I see him."

"Yes, ma'am."

"That will be all." Cinder went back to the news as Emerald headed for the door. However, her hand froze just as soon as she touched the doorknob. She felt a spur of courage at this moment, and she had to tell her how she felt. Cinder noticed that her assistant hadn't left the room. "Is there something wrong?"

Emerald released the door and turned to Cinder. "Um… I… I have something to tell you. It's… it's really personal."

Cinder was confused but still intrigued by what she could possibly say. She turned off the TV so that she could give her full, undivided attention. "I'm listening." Her elbow rested on her desk as her hand covered her mouth.

Emerald was surprised that Cinder was willing to listen. She thought that Cinder would just shoo her away. Now she had to bare all and confess. "Well… the thing is… I…" Emerald rubbed the back of her hands nervously. She couldn't handle the intense gaze from Cinder's amber eyes. "For a while now," she stuttered, "I've had… feelings… for you." Cinder's expression did not change. It scared her more than a negative reaction. She had no idea what Cinder was thinking. Emerald pushed on anyway. "I felt this way for a long time, and… I just needed to tell you… that I… I'm in love with you."

Emerald was sweating as she awaited Cinder's judgment. Would she hate her? Would she laugh at her? Would she fire her? Not knowing was killing her. Finally, Cinder lowered her hand… and revealed a small smirk. "You love me?"

"…Yes." Her hopes were up, but she didn't let it get to her.

"Would you say you love me with all your heart?" Emerald nodded. "And you'd truly do anything for me?" Emerald nodded more slowly. Cinder's smile broadened and the wheels in her head started turning. After a long silence, Cinder said one word, "Strip."

Emerald's red eyes widened with shock. "W- what?"

"You heard me. Strip."

"Right now?"

"Right. Now. You don't have to take your underwear off if you don't want to."

Emerald hesitated as she stood in the middle of her boss' office. "Um… yes… yes, ma'am." She started by unbuttoning her shirt as Cinder studied her. She revealed her white undershirt as she let the first shirt fall to the floor. She pulled it off and revealed her purple bra. She would never have expected this confession to end with her literally baring all, but here she was only wearing her bra as a top in front of Cinder.

And Emerald still wasn't done. She pulled down her skirt to reveal the black panties that she wore underneath. As the skirt dropped, she stepped out of it as it pooled on the floor. "Shoes, too." Emerald didn't argue. She took the shoes off and tossed them to the side. Emerald instinctively wanted to cover herself up, but that was stopped when Cinder ordered, "Hands to your side." Emerald obeyed and she could be seen blushing even through her dark skin. Cinder stood up slowly and sauntered closer to Emerald. She started to encircle the young girl like a predator trapping its prey. This almost scared Emerald when Cinder went behind her and put her hands on her shoulders. Yet, she couldn't help but get excited by this. Cinder leaned closer and whispered, "From now on… you belong to me." Her hands slid down lower to her hips as she pressed her body against her back. "You are mine. I am not yours. Understand that."

"But –"

"Understand. That. I am not yours. You are mine. You are now one of my consorts. But I will give you the affection and attention that you so desperately crave." Emerald wasn't sure what to think. She was glad to be with her, but… it seemed that she didn't feel like being exclusive. However, Cinder's next words gave her an unexpected sense of peace with the prospect. "I know it sounds like I don't want to be with only you but think of it this way. Mercury can only give me physical needs. You can give me love. Desire." Cinder's hands went up to Emerald's breasts. "True intimacy. And in return, I shall give that to you." Her hands went back lower down to wrap around her Emerald's waist. "I am not yours. You are mine." Emerald nodded. "Say it."

"You… you are not mine… but I am yours."

Cinder's smile bared her teeth just before kissing Emerald. And Emerald almost felt like she was floating. Nothing but pure elation as the woman kissed her slowly and deeply. As soon as the kiss broke off, they stared into each other's eyes. "Very good, my little gem." Cinder released her and went back to her desk. "That'll be all for now. You can get dressed." Emerald was petrified, but she ended up redressing herself.

As she left the room looked back. "Cinder? Uh… thank you."

Cinder smirked. "You're welcome, darling." She blew her a kiss as Emerald left. As the door shut, Cinder contemplated all the things that she could do with her new toy. She was more ensnared than she thought, and she was going to milk this for all it was worth.

 

* * *

 

Taurus had his men line up a few more girls for him to choose from. All of them were scared for their lives as they watched the scowling man walk down the line, glaring at all of them. "These aren't the best ones, right?" he asked.

One man replied, "The best girls are set for trade. Don't worry. We're not wasting any of them."

"Good." He looked down at a young redhead. No older than twenty, no taller than five-foot-four. He often liked having smaller girls for himself. He took one look at her and grabbed her roughly by the arm. "I think I'll take this one. Bring her to my room." As she was taken away, the rest of his men took back the other girls. "Now, let's make sure the rest of them are ready to go."

"Oh, can I have one, too?" they heard. Taurus and his two guards turned around and saw the hitman, Mercury Black wearing a suit and his smug smile. "Actually, never mind. I prefer having an ass that's willing."

"What the fuck are you doing here?!" Taurus' men raised their guns and aimed them at Mercury.

Mercury raised his hands. "Relax. I come in peace. No need to shoot the messenger."

"I might have a need if the messenger tries to shoot me."

"Well, I have been given explicit instructions against killing you. Cinder wants you alive. I was told to bring you with me. She'd like to have a word with you."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes. I swear, all she wants is to talk. I just need you to come with me and it'll all be good."

"And what if I say no?"

"Then, I have to use whatever measures necessary for Cinder to get an audience with you."

"I thought you weren't supposed hurt me."

"I was supposed to bring you in **alive**. And "alive" is a pretty broad category. For example, a man with no hands can still be alive." Taurus' scowl intensified. "Really, we can do this quickly and calmly, or you can just waste energy putting off the inevitable. How rough this is all depends on you."

"Well, since you are the messenger, how about I give you a message to deliver to your boss." Taurus walked a few steps forward. "Kiss! My! Ass!"

Mercury gave a sigh of disappointment. "You know, I was kinda hoping you'd say something like that." Before they knew what happened, Mercury whipped out a pistol and shot his guards.

"You son of a bitch!"

"Don't get upset. You were probably gonna end up doing that anyway. Plus, keeping you alive doesn't mean I have to give a shit about them."

Taurus tried to pull out his gun, but as soon as he did, Mercury knocked it out of his hand. Mercury tried to kick him in the face, but Taurus blocked the strike. This opened him up two more kicks, one getting blocked, but the other collided with Taurus' temple. Taurus recovered and tried to punch him four times with Mercury effortlessly dodging each strike, further infuriating Taurus. When a fifth strike was thrown, Mercury grabbed it and pulled him closer while using the opportunity to punch him in the face.

Mercury pulled him to the ground and stepped on his chest just before more guards came in. Mercury shot each one of them dead as they entered. "Nothing personal, guys. You weren't gonna last long at this rate." Taurus took the opportunity to pull Mercury's leg and pulled him to the ground. Mercury knew Taurus was going to grab another gun, so he ran for cover behind a stone wall. Taurus fired at the corner as Mercury hid. "Hey! At least you don't have to pay those assholes!" Mercury still had his smirk as he hid from the gunfire.

"I WILL NOT LET YOU HUMILIATE ME!" Taurus kept firing as he approached the corner. That's when he got an idea. As soon as he saw Taurus' arm, he grabbed his arm and knocked the gun out of his hand, Mercury pulled him closer and put Taurus in a chokehold.

"These are the days where I really love my job." As his target started passing out, some more gunshots were heard. "Oh, the cavalry's finally here. I'm glad that got to do most of the fun stuff." Mercury heard more guards coming and he shot them himself. He waited until Taurus was limp until he went to the front, carrying the unconscious man over his shoulder. "Everyone! Listen up!" he announced. "If you want your boss to live, you'll let us walk out of here alive with him and stay here! We promise to bring him back safe and sound! Seriously! Scout's honor!" He did the Boy Scout salute as he carried Taurus to the van. He dumped the mob boss in the back and put a bag over his head as Cinder's other workers prepared to leave Taurus' compound. "Man, he is gonna be pissed when he wakes up."

 

* * *

 

Qrow walked with Ironwood's assistant, waiting to get an audience with him and Ozpin. He had hoped that Oz wasn't going to go on a warpath as soon as he saw Qrow's face, but he was paying close attention to any possible nuances that will make the man uneasy. The secretary opened the door and allowed Qrow in where Ozpin and Ironwood were already present. Ironwood went to shake Qrow's hand. "Mr. Branwen," he said. "Glad you could make it. I'm sure you know the police commissioner."

Qrow shook Ozpin's hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Commissioner," he said.

"'Victor' is fine," Ozpin replied. "No need to be formal about it." Qrow took his seat and nodded.

Ironwood moved to his desk and declared, "Now that the formalities are out of the way, I wanted to take a minute to see what you think about closing in on the drug trade going on in Vale. It seems like most of these trades are exports, but with the recent opioid epidemic even reaching this city, we can't afford to let this slide."

"You might be getting a bit too hasty," Qrow advised. "While this is quite a problem, stopping the drug trade only stops the sale of illegal drugs. There's nothing that can be done about the legal prescriptions being sold, and I think that should be our first target."

"Interesting point, Qrow," Ozpin replied, "but I doubt that the pharmaceutical companies are going around murdering people for their own personal gain."

"I'm sorry, but how many opioid deaths are there every year? My point exactly."

"Very well, but that seems to be rather dismissive of the drug trades. Almost as if you're trying to protect your sister, Mr. Branwen." Ozpin glared at him, suspicious of his motives.

Now it was time to put the skills he learned to work. "Trust me, Victor. No one wants Raven behind bars more than I do. However, the opioids are the reason people are turning to heroin and other drugs. You solve that problem, you get rid of a significant portion of her trade. That's how you put a dent in things."

Ozpin seemed pleased by this answer. Not entirely convinced but pleased. Ironwood noted, "You see? This is why Qrow is a very trusted acquaintance."

"I do see," Ozpin replied. Qrow smirked, knowing that he put Ozpin's suspicions at bay for now.

 

* * *

 

Dr. Bartholomew Oobleck was the resident medical examiner. All the homicide detectives had become quite acquainted with him, especially Blake and Sun. Most people admitted that he was rather eccentric, but he was good at his job regardless. They were proud to have him onboard.

Blake and Sun needed to talk to him about another case they were working on related to the suspect they just brought in earlier. And immediately, they saw the man performing an autopsy while singing to _Pagliacci_. The song barely started, but he was really getting into it. Blake and Sun did nothing but glance at each other in response. Sun cleared his throat to alert the grey-haired man. He immediately looked up and saw the perplexed detectives. "Ah! Detectives Belladonna and Wukong," he said. "Come in! Please!"

They walked closer to the table. Sun asked, "Have you gotten anything on the body yet, Dr. O?"

The man talked at a mile a minute. Before getting used to it, most people could barely keep up. "Not quite. I'm finding several pieces of DNA that could be linked to the suspect you incarcerated, but it's far from conclusive. I'm not gonna make promises, but… I think we might have something. Don't get your hopes up though! I'm sending the DNA to the crime lab to match the samples. Make sure you get samples from the suspect."

Blake smiled and said, "Great job, as usual, Oobleck."

"Doctor! Oobleck! Thank you very much! I didn't get the Ph.D. for fun!"

"Sorry. Just make sure not to bias the evidence. If there's nothing to be found, just tell us. We'd rather have no evidence as opposed to faulty evidence."

"I will do my best to be a neutral entity in this endeavor!"

Blake gave a thumbs-up before leaving the room. "Excellent. Just making sure things are running smoothly. Keep up the good work."

 

* * *

 

Torchwick sat at his desk, waiting for Hazel to return to him. He wasn't really looking forward to this because Hazel already worked so hard and demanding more out of him wasn't going to make him more inclined to work for Torchwick. Still, Watts said that he needed to get more organs, and it's not like he could make them himself. (And he has asked **many** times.)

Hazel knocked on the door. He'd recognize the heavy thumping of his large fist anywhere. "Come in," Torchwick replied.

In walked the massive man that was Hazel Rainart. He was strong enough to carry bodies on his own and that's part of why he agreed to work with him. "You wanted to see me, Mr. Torchwick?"

"Yes, and you may not like where this conversation goes. Have a seat." Hazel did exactly that. "Now, Watts has informed me that we aren’t finding many organs that are a match for our customers."

Hazel grumbled. "I've been bringing in as many bodies as I can. You know, it's not easy trying to find more people to kidnap. You're telling me that we can't find any matches?"

"Well, it's better for us to get organs that are a match for the people that we give to them. It won't be much use if their bodies reject them. People will be rather angry about that and it could cost business. We're definitely not as big a business as we used to be."

"What about one for Cassie?"

"I told you that I'd tell you when we got a hit. So far, we have no hit." Hazel hung his head in despair. He was counting on Torchwick to find a kidney transplant for his daughter, but things hadn't gone well. "I mean, I'm paying you enough to afford treatments for your kid and I've been searching for other organs, but we're still having trouble pulling in organs for our customers."

Hazel shot out of his seat and towered over Torchwich, startling the redheaded man. "You promised me that you'd help my daughter! You promised that if I helped you, I'd get a transplant for her! That's what you said!"

"But I cannot do that if I don't get organs in! You need to help me help you. That's how this works. This is a symbiotic relationship. I can't get your daughter a transplant if you don't get me more potential candidates. The more candidates that come in, the more chances that I get to find one for little… what's her name again?"

"CASSIE!"

Torchwick knew he needed to calm down the tension. "Cassie! Cassie! To help little Cassie. Okay? I am willing to help you, but I need more people. So, you need to find a way to get more help. Do you have any suggestions?"

Hazel seemed to calm down as he thought about it. That's good, Torchwick thought. He's not gonna crush my head like a fucking grape. Hazel then responded, "I know a guy."

"Good! Is he a supplier or a potential assistant?"

"Assistant. He's a serial killer who I knew about. I hear he recently got arrested. If you can get him out, he'll be able to help."

"Eh… I don't know about using a serial killer. How bad is he?"

"He's nothing short of a lunatic. He is known for carving up his victims."

"You do know that I need the organs intact, right?"

"With the right direction, he can be useful. Being able to kill people will be more than enough. It doesn't matter how. You won't even need to pay him that much."

Torchwick took a moment to think about it. "Alright. What's his name?"

"Tyrian Callows. His arrest was on the news earlier. If you can help get him out of custody, legally or otherwise, I'll reign him in."

"Fine. I'll get in contact with some of my lawyers and see if we can get this madman." Torchwick was apprehensive about this idea, but he was willing to use whatever means necessary to improve business.

 

* * *

 

Ruby and Penny drove around and found out where their suspects were going. They had to find something to pin on them to get any arrests, but that was getting difficult. Sky and Russel had been talking to people a lot, but no illegal activity was observed. "Goddammit," Ruby muttered. "Will they just break the law already? I know this is gonna sound terrible, but at this point, I would genuinely be happy if they just straight-up murdered someone in the streets. At least we could threaten them with life in prison to make them comply with our demands."

"That would be quite interesting to see," Penny replied. "A shame for the victim though, but that act of violence would definitely be one for the scrapbooks."

Ruby side-eyed Penny. "I'm kinda worried about you now."

"You said you would be happy if that happened."

"Because we'll have something to arrest them for. Not the actual – You know what? Forget it. That was a bad way to phrase it anyway."

"Cheer up, Sergeant Rose. I'm sure we'll get those rapscallions eventually. You just need faith. Didn't you want to go after Cinder?"

Ruby sighed. "Yeah, you're right. It's just that my patience is wearing real thin right now. I mean, I would at least hope we could find out what they've got in that bag. Sky has been carrying it around all day. What the hell is it for?"

"I think we're about to find out." Penny pointed at the two men going into an alley with three other unknown people. Ruby parked the car out of sight in a place where they could watch them. It turned out that Sky and Russel were selling drugs. "Should we arrest the customers?"

"No, but this is good! We got something." The men walked out of the alley and went their separate ways. "We've gotta follow them on foot." Ruby parked the car and both officers exited to follow their suspects. "Alright, we just need to arrest them. No need to escalate anything unless we need to. Got it?"

Penny saluted and said, "Understood, Sergeant." Ruby chuckled at Penny's overly formal response.

The two walked over to the men to talk to them. "Excuse me!" Ruby yelled as she revealed her badge. "Vale Police Department. We just happened to see you in that alley over there. Mind if we take a look in that bag?"

The men looked at each other before Sky responded, "Uh, yeah. We do mind. You don't have a warrant."

"Oh, sorry. I understand that, but we actually did get a warrant to do that since we saw you and your late friend Dave, God rest his soul, selling drugs to two women a few days ago just before your other friend died." Penny pulled out the warrant, and their smug expressions disappeared. "So, why don't we take a look in that bag?"

"No way," Russel said. "We ain't got nothing in here."

"Double negative!" Penny yelled. "That means there's something in there!"

"Bullshit. This is just cops making shit up to get someone jailed. I ain't fallin' for it."

Ruby then replied, "If that's true, then you won't have much of a problem opening up that bag and showing us what's in the bag. Prove to us that we have nothing to worry about."

The men looked at each other, then looked at the officers… and bolted. The cops chased after them down the street. Russel and Sky kept knocking things in Ruby and Penny's way as they pushed innocent pedestrians out of the way. "Stop in the name of the law!" Penny yelled.

Sky grabbed the bag from Russel and pulled out the gun from the bag. He shoved it back to Russel and the mohawked man dropped it. As he tried to pick it up, before he knew it, he was being tackled to the ground. Penny pinned his hands behind his back and cuffed his wrists. "You have the right to remain silent," she said. "Anything you say can and will be used –"

"I know my fuckin' rights," Russel griped.

"It's policy that I read you your Miranda Rights. You can't forget them. I'll just start over to make sure you heard them." He rolled his eyes as Penny began to read him his rights once again.

Ruby ran past the two and chased after Sky. He saw another alley to hide behind and started shooting blindly at her. He thankfully didn't hit anyone, but it caused people to panic. Ruby grabbed her gun and fired as he hid behind the wall. _I hope Penny's letting them know shots were fired_ , she thought. "Sky Lark!" she yelled. "Just come in quietly! No one has to get hurt!"

"Fuck you, bitch!" he replied. "I'm not going to jail!"

"Then you shouldn't have been breaking the law! It really is that simple!"

"Shut up!"

"Don't make me shoot you! I will!"

Sky began reloading his gun. "Isn't that police brutality?!"

"When a guy starts firing a gun around where there are innocent people, I'd say that the use of excessive force would be justified." He grumbled as he prepared to shoot her again. "Just come on out and this will be quick and easy."

"Screw that!" He jumped out, aiming his gun at Ruby, but he wasn't quick enough. Ruby sent three shots to his chest and he dropped to the ground, releasing the gun. _Shit!_ Ruby ran over to check on him. She grabbed her radio as she called for backup. "We have a suspect down! We need medical assistance immediately!" She put the radio down and kept putting pressure on his wounds. "Don't die on me, you son of a bitch." It was quite an eventful outing, but even though she might've lost Sky, Penny thankfully caught Russel. They would have at least one living suspect.

 

* * *

 

After the long day, Qrow returned to his apartment, hoping that he would be able to get some rest. However, he knew that he wouldn't when he saw who was waiting for him. Raven was sitting in a robe, furious. Qrow sighed. "What are you doing here, Rae?" he asked. Her eyes narrowed as she glared at him. "I know something is wrong. What is it?"

She stood up and slowly sauntered closer to him and stared him down for what felt like an hour to Qrow. That ended when she slapped him in the face. "You piece of shit faggot. What the fuck were you doing?!" He realized that Raven figured out about Harvey. "What have I told you? You put this queer shit behind!"

"How did you find out?"

"I keep tabs on you. I tracked your phone when you weren't at home last night. I needed to send you some of the money. Lo and behold, you were nowhere to be found." He could do nothing but glare at him. "I can't believe you."

"You can't control me forever, Raven! That's just who I am! Get over it!"

She grabbed his throat and slammed him against the door. "My brother isn't gonna be a fucking queer." She kneed him in the stomach and took him away to his room. "And I'm planning on making sure of it."

After throwing him on the bed, she opened her robe to reveal that she was wearing nothing under it. "NO!" Before he could move away, Raven rushed towards Qrow and pinned him down.

"Just relax." She unbuckled his pants and started to stimulate him to get him hard. "You'll thank me for this."

"I doubt that."

She grabbed his neck again and forced a kiss on him. "No, I think you're wrong about that." He failed to get her off him as he could feel his erection growing. "I'll make sure it works this time." In no time, he realized that he was inside her. "Feel that?" She leaned over and whispered in his ear. "You remember how good pussy feels, right?"

Qrow struggled to get out from under his sister. "Get off," he yelled as he punched her in the face.

She shoved him back down. "I know what'll make this better." She shoved his face into her chest as she rode him faster. "This is just what you need."

The depressing thing to Qrow was the fact that this situation was horrifically familiar to him.

_"Stay down!" Raven yelled. They were teenagers when she found out Qrow was gay. She caught him making out with a boy near his locker in school, and she wasn't too happy about it. If she knew anything about her brother, she wouldn’t let him be gay. She forced him onto the bed and ripped his pants down._

_"Raven!" he yelled back as he tried to push him off. "What are you doing?!"_

_She grabbed his neck and pushed him down. "Shut up, you fucking faggot!" She was only wearing her t-shirt without pants, making sure she wouldn't have too much trouble. "What is it, huh? What is it about girls that you don't like?"_

_"I just don't like them like that! Why is that a problem?!"_

_She punched him in a fit of rage, unwilling to accept that answer. "You're a guy! That's bullshit!"_

_"Why are you doing this?"_

_She leaned over and squatted over his face, turning away from him to pull his member from his underwear. "This is for your own good. Now start licking."_

_"I don't –"_

_She grabbed his balls and yelled, "Do it!" before sucking him off. He tried to resist becoming aroused by this, but he couldn't help feeling himself physically becoming aroused. He couldn't keep his face away from her crotch as she pinned him down. "Tastes good, doesn't it?" she asked as she turned back around._

_"No!"_

_"Shut up!" She smacked him as she lowered herself onto him. "Now, that feels good. Doesn't it? Feeling that pussy around you?" Qrow refused to respond. "Come on, Qrow. You know you love it."_

_"Just leave me alone!" He tried to push her away, but she latched herself onto him. "Raven, stop! Please!"_

_"I know what'll make this better." She pulled up her shirt, revealing her breasts, just before shoving his face into her chest. "You like those, Qrow? Mm… you'll be getting a lot more once you put yourself out there. I'm sure girls will be lining up to have a go with you."_

It felt like ages before she allowed him to finish inside her. Both were out of breath and Raven laid on top of Qrow, holding him close. He was in shock. This was never an easy thing to deal with. It wasn't when they were younger, and it still wasn't now. Raven whispered, "Don't worry. I'm on the pill." She pulled him out of her as she laid next to him on the bed. "You don't have to worry about that."

Qrow was silent, still in shock from what happened. "Did it feel good for you?" she asked as she wrapped her arms around him. He didn't answer. "Well?"

"Why do you do this?" he said, emotionless.

"You know exactly why." She wrapped her leg around him as she held him close. "Don't worry, Qrow. I'll help you."

"Rae…"

"Shh. Don't say anything. You need some rest. You're probably exhausted." She turned off the lamp on his bedside table. "It's for your own good, Qrow."

It wasn't long until she fell asleep on his chest. He didn't dare try to escape her grip because she knew she'd hold on tighter. This was something in his life that he thought was over. He thought the same thing when they graduated high school, and after they started the business ten years ago. But it always came back. Raven was persistent. She truly believed it was the best thing for Qrow. In a way, that was the worst part of it. It wasn't out of a place of hatred towards him. It was the care of his sister trying to save him from something she believed was a problem. If only she knew the truth…

He barely slept at all that night. Not only were the vivid nightmares of what happened years ago returning, but he started having new ones about this night. And he had a feeling that she'd be giving him more in the coming weeks.

 

* * *

 

Yang was on all fours on her bed as a guy was giving her anal sex. She wasn't really a fan of it and rarely enjoyed it (not even Mercury could make it enjoyable for her), but it was something she had to do for the job. A lot of guys seemed to like it, so she allowed people to do it – just for 450 bucks an hour instead of 300. "Oh, yeah," she moaned. "Fuck me harder, baby."

"You like that?" the man said as he spanked her.

"Mm-hm," she lied. "I love that cock in my asshole." While it wasn't uncomfortable for her, it could have been better. Suddenly, her phone rang, and she reached for the nightstand, unable to grasp it from where she was. "Stop for a second. I need to take the call." He pulled out and let her grab the phone. "Okay, you can keep going." The man entered her again as she listened to the call. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's me," Weiss said on the other end. "I just…" She paused when she heard the sound of a mattress rattling. "Wait. What's going on?"

"I've got some guy in my ass right now. You know, just doing my job. What's up?"

"Well, I was able to pull some strings for you and I was able to get you two tickets to my concert?"

"What?! Oh my gosh! That is fucking awesome!"

"Yeah," the man said, "You love that –"

"Not you," she griped.

"Wait, what?"

"I'm on the phone."

He stopped, confused by the situation. "Uh… should I just wait?"

"No, no. You can keep going. I don't mind." He let it slide as he continued, and Yang went back to Weiss. "Holy shit, are you serious?"

"Yep. You can bring a friend of yours if you want."

"Why are you giving them to **me**?"

"Well, partially a bribe to keep you quiet about you-know-what –"

Yang rolled her eyes and smirked. "Of course."

"– and partially because… I really think of you as a friend. You really helped me that night and… I just wanted to thank you for that."

Yang couldn't help but grin, genuinely touched by the sentiment. "Aw! That's so sweet of you." Meanwhile, Yang's customer was finishing up inside her, filling up the condom. "Hold on a sec," She put the phone down as he pulled out. "You've still got like twenty minutes. You wanna go after I'm done with the call?"

"Yeah, sure," he said as he pulled off the condom. "I'll get another one of these." Yang always appreciated when her customers brought their own protection.

Yang grabbed her vibrator and used it while talking to Weiss. "Alright, I'm back."

"And you're not going to be interrupted?" Weiss asked.

"Hopefully," she said as she glared at the man.

"Good, because I wanted to see you after the concert."

Yang smirked. "I see. Living it up like a real rock star. Are you gonna have some cocaine there?" The man looked up at the comment. She mouthed the phrase, "It's just a joke," to calm his suspicions.

She heard Weiss chuckling. "No. No drugs. I will pay full price though. I know I got those tickets, but I feel like it's fair."

"Well, if you've got the money for it, why not use it? By the way, even if you were any other one of my friend, you'd still have to pay full price for it. I appreciate the gesture."

"Really?"

"I gotta make a living. If I'm not dating you and you wanna fuck, you gotta pay full price." She randomly moaned as she talked.

"Uh… I thought you were done."

"Using a vibrator. Don't worry. Wait, what about…" She looked at the man and remembered there was someone listening. "…you-know-who?"

"Neptune is leaving tonight. He's actually out right now getting me a present."

Her smile receded. "You know you have to… tell him at some point…"

"Do you masturbate when talking to all your friends?"

"Maybe…"

"…I still haven’t decided if I'll tell him, but I don't want to hurt him by saying this is all a ruse. He really does love me."

"You gotta do it at some point."

"…I know, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it."

"Fine then. Well, since you're letting me bring a friend, why don't I bring another worker. I bet you've never had a threesome before. Sound fun?"

"Is she into girls?"

"I don't think so, but when I show her who our client is, I'm sure… oh, fuck… I'm sure she'll be on board."

"Alright. I'll give you the details later. Make sure no one sees you when we meet."

"Got it. Take care."

"You, too."

Yang hung up and put the vibrator back. "Alright, I'm done. And my ass is off limits for now. I need a break from that."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **FUN FACTS:**  
>  * I think the idea of a lawyer named "Harvey" was just ultimately a subconscious Two-Face reference. (I am a pretty big Batman fan.)  
> * On that note, Mercury's line about people with no hands still being alive is a conscious reference to Victor Zsasz's line in _Gotham_. (I have kind of a love-hate relationship with the show. It's complicated.)  
>  * First person to guess who Blake and Sun were bringing into the precinct gets a shout-out at the beginning of the next chapter.  
> * I'd like to explain the extent of Raven's abuse of Qrow, but I don't know whether or not I'll be revealing more of it later in the story. But I will say it's a more than just raping him.  
> * And I was originally going to have the end of the chapter there, but I kinda felt bad doing that since I'll be taking a short break from this story for a bit, so moved Yang and Weiss' scene to the end. Just to have a bit of a breather.
> 
> As always, I appreciate the readers and comments you all have left on the story so far. Please keep leaving them, I like reading them all. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them and I'll answer them as long as it won't spoil anything.
> 
> And as I said, I'm taking a short break to work on other projects. It shouldn't be long, but I do need to move to something else so I'm not completely wrapped up in this story.


	8. Singing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Penny, Ruby, and Ren interrogate their suspect. Cinder and Adam make a deal. Ruby gains a new informant. And Weiss performs her long-awaited concert.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout-out to **VenomousSquidward** who got it right that the man arrested was Tyrian! Congrats.
> 
> Also, since Weiss' concert is included in the chapter, I had to look up something about if you could put song lyrics in a fic. What I found out is you couldn't use the whole song. Only quotes. The language was a bit vague about what would be transformative, and since I didn't have enough time to contact to ask, I just cut out almost half the lyrics of the songs I included. (Those being (in order of appearance) "This Life Is Mine", "It's My Turn", and "The Path to Isolation" by Jeff and Casey Lee Williams.) For the full effect during the concert scene, I recommend playing the latter two songs as you read. They'll be linked in the story.
> 
> And a final note, this fic has officially broken the record for my longest fic, longer than _[CRME](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13337964/chapters/30533886)_ (another fic you should check out, along with the rest of the series it's in).

Ruby and Penny ended up bringing Russel into the precinct. Sky was being treated for the multiple gunshots, but he was under police protection. Russel didn't bother fighting it. He was not getting out of this anytime soon. Taurus wouldn't spare a thought for one of his men getting arrested. He's too busy shooting them to care about their well-being. As the officers brought the suspect in, every cop in the precinct applauded them on their efforts. Everyone was worried that they wouldn't be able to get the other two alive, but they at least got one of them.

As they passed Russel off for processing, Ren approached Ruby and Penny. "I heard about what happened," he said.

Ruby replied, "Yeah, you and everyone in the station apparently. I just wish I didn't shoot Sky."

"We've got one suspect. That's still good enough."

"And the other is in critical condition with no signs of stabilizing. He would've been more willing to confess considering he was so adamant on not going to jail. It could've been useful leverage, and I feel like I kinda screwed up there."

Penny said, "Cheer up, Sergeant Rose. We'll at least be able to get something out of Mr. Thrush. We must remember the small victories that we accomplish."

"I guess you're right. We'll be able to interrogate him later."

"Probably shouldn't go with good-cop/bad-cop though," Ren suggested. "Considering what we've heard about his boss, he deals with threats all the time."

"Then what'll we do to get him to talk?"

"Oh!" Penny exclaimed. "Let me do it! I'll do an excellent job."

Ren and Ruby glanced at each other before looking back at Penny. Ren said, "I don't know if that'll work. I mean, you seem like a good cop but, forgive me for saying this, you don't seem very…"

He tried to look for a suitable adjective, but Ruby jumped in to say, "Intimidating?"

"I was gonna say 'persuasive'."

"That probably would've been worse." She turned to Penny and said, "Look, I know you're a nice girl, but these mob guys are pretty tough and the people they work for are even tougher. If they see you, they're not gonna be very scared. They won't say anything."

"You don't think I can handle them?" Penny asked. Ruby and Ren only shrugged in response. "I'll let you know that I've reduced grown men to the point of tears. I can be plenty intimidating."

"They must've been some total pussies up in Atlas then," they heard a man say. The voice of none other than the smug-faced officer, Cardin Winchester.

Ruby rolled her eyes before saying, "Butting in where you don't belong, Winchester?"

"Well, I was actually coming in to congratulate you on taking down that scumbag, Sky Lark. He definitely deserved it."

"He's not dead yet, Cardin."

Cardin still wore his shit-eating grin. "Please! Those were kill-shots you took. You know he's gonna die. Not worth worrying about. Besides, I like a woman who's not afraid to go for the kill." He still walked closer to Ruby.

She had enough and whipped out her gun. "If you like kill-shots so much, then how about I show you one, you piece of shit!" Cardin immediately backed up and this even startled Ren.

Penny intervened and lowered the gun. "Officer Rose!" she yelled. "That is no way to be handling your firearm around fellow officers. You should be ashamed of such behavior."

"Yeah," Cardin replied. "There's no reason to bring a gun into this." Ruby was furious that Cardin was going to end up being the good guy in this situation.

"Exactly. Such an altercation shouldn't have been handled with the use of deadly force. You could have easily just done this." Penny grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back, startling the officer. She then took his leg from under him and pinned him to the ground. Ren and Ruby were equal parts shocked and impressed. "See? That's all that was necessary."

Penny let him up and allowed him to leave. "This is what I get for trying to compliment someone."

As he left, Ruby was about to go after him, but Ren held her back. "It's not worth it," he said. Ruby stood down, agreeing with that sentiment.

Ruby then realized something as she admitted, "I'm getting desk duty from Port, aren't I?"

"I doubt anyone else in the precinct would report you considering that it's Cardin we're talking about. And if he wants to report it, he'll have to admit he got his ass kicked by the new girl."

Ruby nodded. "Speaking of which… thanks for doing that Penny."

"Always happy to help," she cheerfully replied.

"I guess you can be intimidating enough."

"I told you. So, does this mean I get to do the interrogating?"

Ruby shrugged. "You know what? Sure. Couldn't hurt."

"Yes!"

"Now, we need to make sure we ask the right questions. We gotta think about this."

Before they could begin, Ruby's wife decided to visit her. "Well, well, well," Blake said, "I come into the precinct and hear that my wife took down a suspect today. Once again proving that's she's a total badass."

"Well, he didn't give me much choice. I honestly wish I didn't have to shoot him."

"Don't worry too much about it. Besides, I have a surprise for you tonight when we get off work. It might help you take your mind off things." As soon as Ruby perked up with excitement, Blake said, "It's not a sex thing."

"Oh."

"But I'm almost certain that you'll love it."

"I'll be holding you to that, Belladonna." Blake chuckled as she left. Ruby returned a smirk before going back to her partners.

 

* * *

 

Cinder got an important phone call from Cardin. She listened to it ring on the desk. _Maybe you're good for something, after all_ , she thought. "This is Cinder," she said as she answered the phone."

"Cinder, it's Winchester."

"I know it is, jackass. I have caller ID."

"Anyway, I think I've got some valuable information. Russel Thrush was just arrested, and Sky Lark was gunned down by Rose. Lark may not make it, so I wouldn't worry about him."

"And that is why you remain a pawn."

"…Wait. What?"

"You do not account for all variables. There is a chance that he will pull through."

"Yeah, but he's in critical condition. He hasn't been improving."

"I've seen people survive getting bullets in the brain before. You never count someone out until you know they don't have a pulse. As long as he's in the hospital and not in the morgue, he is a variable you need to account for. If he has armed guards, I want you to get a shift as one of them to observe more closely."

Cardin grumbled. "Fine."

"Also, while you're in the precinct, try to see what Russel says to the cops."

"Might be harder, but I can do it."

Cinder smiled. "Thank you, darling." She hung up and turned to her newest guest, Adam Taurus tied up in her chair. He still had a bag over his head and was still unconscious. "Now, why don't we see what the Bull has to say. Emerald?"

Her assistant stood by as she waited for the order. "Ready when you are ma'am," she replied.

Cinder smirked as she sat in Taurus's lap and ripped the bag off his head. She saw that he was coming to and slapped him to wake him up. He jolted awake as Cinder put her arm around his neck. "Good morning, sunshine."

She wasn't surprised when flew into a rage while attempting to free himself from his binding. "Where the fuck am I?!"

"Sorry about Mr. Black. I wanted you to come in calmly, but you forced his hand. If you had come calmly, I wouldn't have tied you up."

"Just tell me what you want, bitch!"

"Well, a little birdie told me that you were planning on upstaging my arms trade." He realized what had happened to Dave and it made him angrier. "Don't worry. The mutilation was punishment for defying his boss. More than you'd give."

"Alright. You've caught me. What of it?"

"I noticed that you meant to upstage me because you thought I was…" She twirled her hair as she thought. "What did he say again…? Oh, right. 'A bitchy egomaniac that needs to be taken down a peg.'" He growled in anger. "Listen. I could do all manner of things to you just so that you would cooperate with me, or I could just kill you. Or…" She caressed his cheek as she said, "…I could seduce you to persuade you."

He snickered. "Like I'd succumb to that sort of thing."

"Oh, of course not. You prefer your women to be smaller. I wouldn't be your type."

His façade dropped as he realized that was something he shouldn't have known. "What are you talking about?"

Cinder's smile broadened as she saw Taurus panic. "I'm glad you asked. You see, aside from the fact that you take up the smaller girls that you traffic, I had a spy of mine collect some rather interesting photographs. Emerald?" She held out her hand for the phone and Emerald gave it to her. She opened the photo gallery and showed it to Taurus. "They have some rather compromising images of you having relations with a fifteen-year-old girl." She swiped photo after photo of the two together, kissing and even about to have sex. Taurus was furious. "It would be rather troubling if these photos came to light."

"You have fucking nothing on me. Nia is twenty-three!"

"Oh, I know that! However, if I were to send these to my inside man at the VPD…"

"She's on record. You can find her in the system."

"That is true, but what you fail to realize is that no one knows my real name. Didn't you ever think that I might have some experience with altering records?" Taurus' confidence started dropping by the second. "It would be rather easy to go into Ms. Poletti's files and change the age. Then, I could make her disappear to make sure she can't confirm this. And just like that, you get arrested for statutory rape."

"You couldn't do that."

"Oh, I could. Though honestly, I wouldn't put it past you if you've ever fucked a thirteen-year-old that you trafficked, so it wouldn't be a farfetched thing to claim."

Taurus had to admit that she had him in a bind at this point. It's not like he could bring her to the cops to confirm it because he'd be arrested. He had no choice to comply. "What do you want?"

"I caught wind of the fact that two of your men got caught selling drugs. One was arrested and the other was shot and is currently in critical condition. This relates to the proposal I have for you."

"Which is?"

"Allow me to take care of any possible snitches who would help the police get closer to finding you. This is something that would greatly benefit both of us. And to make sure the deal stays solid, I have a secondary exchange. You stay out of my arms trade and leave me alone, and you don't get arrested for being a child molester. Simple choice, right?"

Taurus looked away. "Fine," he muttered. "Take care of them."

Cinder won. She had him cornered and he knew that. She looked up at Emerald. "Go tell Mercury his new assignment and he needs to report to me." Emerald nodded and left the room. She looked back at Taurus. "Pleasure. Doing. Business with you." She playfully poked his nose before pulling the bag back over his head.

 

* * *

 

Weiss was in the stadium doing last-minute sound-checks for the concert tomorrow night.

 _[I'm not your pet](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiWF_vmJyiI)_  
_Not another thing you own_  
_I was not born guilty of your crimes_  
_Believed me when you told me I was_  
_Nothing on my own_  
_I won't be possessed_  
_Burdened by your royal test_  
_I will not surrender_  
_This life… is… mine!_

Weiss stopped to look at the other musicians. "So, then we'll go to the part where it picks up tempo, right?" The musicians confirmed this. "Alright, then we'll stop there for now. Everyone take five!"

She got to the edge of the stage where Glynda was holding a bottle of water for her. "Doing quite well, Miss Schnee." Weiss silently nodded in thanks as she started chugging water. "I especially like the fact that you were going to sing the newest song you wrote. Lyrics are a bit on the nose, though." Weiss glared at Glynda because she knew exactly what she meant. " _'Confused and I’m losing myself in the storm / Growing jaded, being pushed being pulled / I’m unraveling / Can’t find myself when I’m constantly forced to conform.'_ Seems to have some rather profound relevance."

"Glynda."

"Well, I'm sure it would sound better when you sing it." Weiss huffed in annoyance at her suggestion. "Are you sure you still want to arrange this meeting? It seems like an unnecessary risk to take."

"You're a careful woman, Goodridge. I'm sure you'll be able to hide things."

Glynda sighed. "But for how long? You can't keep doing this forever. And now it's bleeding into your music. It's almost as if you want to be caught. Wouldn't it be easier for you if you told the truth?"

"I think about that every day, honestly, but with Neptune genuinely falling in love with me… it becomes harder and harder." She sighed as she mulled over it. "I don't like lying to him, but I don't wanna break his heart."

Glynda leaned on the stage. "Well, I'm not the one who is supposed to be handling your personal matters, I just accomplish whatever tasks you give me."

"Could've fooled me." She chuckled before taking another drink of water.

"Sometimes, I have to be involved. But the choice of what to do is ultimately yours." Weiss smiled at Glynda, knowing that she ultimately had a choice to make.

 

* * *

 

Harvey walked into the precinct when he saw Sun and Blake watching over Tyrian. He was called by Torchwick (technically one of Torchwick's surrogates) to help get him out, and Harvey really didn't expect to be helping some lunatic serial killer out of lockup. Still, Torchwick paid well for this job. It wasn't going to be difficult. "Excuse me," he said. The officers looked at him when he entered. "Harvey Hart. I've been sent to represent Tyrian Callows. I understand you have him in your custody."

Blake and Sun were suspicious. Blake admitted, "He never asked for legal counsel."

"I was sent by an associate of his. They informed me of his incarceration when they saw the news. My question is this. Why do you have Callows in confinement here?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, considering the defendant's mental history, he must be placed in an appropriate mental institution for his debilitating condition."

"He's not delusional," Sun replied. "He keeps giving us this bullshit story about him being handed the bloody knife after someone else killed him."

"Has his story changed?"

Sun and Blake looked at each other and thought. "No, not really."

"He has had continued delusions that have caused him to go into psychotic breaks. He genuinely believes the defense. Several criminal psychologists have determined to be mentally ill and he needs to go to a proper facility for his care."

"That sounds like a load of bullshit to me."

"I agree," Blake added. "Seems all too convenient."

Harvey handed them the psychological profile and said, "Read it and weep." They looked at it and realized that their hands might be tied. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll speak to my current client." As the man went in to talk to the suspect, Blake and Sun observed them.

"Are you convinced?"

Sun sighed and said, "Not for a second."

"Why the hell would someone defend that guy?"

"To be fair, we've seen stranger things."

After about thirty minutes, Harvey was able to get Tyrian taken to a facility. As he passed by in the precinct, Penny passed by with Ruby and Ren. She looked at the man and was shocked. She grabbed Ruby and said, "Panda Killer!"

"Yeah," Ruby replied, "I remember the Panda Killer."

"No! That's him!" Penny pointed at him and yelled, "Panda Killer!"

Ruby raised an eyebrow. "That's him?"

"Yeah. He got out on insanity pleas. They tried to get him in for years. They shouldn't be letting him out. We need to get him!"

"We can't," Blake said as she walked up to them. "His lawyer just got him out. We talked to Port and our hands are tied."

"But he's a dangerous man!"

"We know. Trust me, Penny. We're not any happier about it than you are. I'd rather shoot the guy right here."

Penny's face became more somber. Ruby tried to cheer her up by saying, "We should be focused on our suspect first. Come on, Penny." The redhead nodded as she went with her partners.

 

* * *

 

Pyrrha and Yang were in their apartment discussing the concert invitation that she got. She tried to convince Pyrrha to come, but it was getting rather difficult. "Pyrrha," Yang yell, "come on! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! I swear you're not gonna regret it!"

"I have a feeling I will," Pyrrha replied. "It seems too good to be true. One of your clients gets you tickets to a Weiss Schnee concert and tells you to meet him after the concert? It seems rather sketchy to me."

Yang had left out the fact that the client wasn't a man. She wanted to surprise her. Weiss made her swear not to tell anyone it was her, but she never said she had to hide her gender. That was just Yang's addition. "Look, this is good. Trust me. The client is filthy fucking rich and will pay double! That's a great deal!"

"And he just gave the concert tickets in addition to agreeing to pay for sex?"

"I told the person that I had to work for full price during this favor, and the client was willing to pay double. Trust me! This person is good for the money." She tried to keep herself from laughing about what she was hiding.

"You keep saying to trust you. 'Trust me! Trust me!' You're like a broken record and it's not inspiring confidence. It doesn't help that he told you not to tell me who it is."

"P. Listen to me. Have I ever stayed you wrong before?"

Pyrrha sighed and thought about it. Yang wouldn't pull her into a dangerous situation. She always made sure she was safe. So why would things be different with this mysterious benefactor? She finally conceded. "Fine. I'll go."

Yang pulled her into a hug. "Yes! I promise that is gonna be awesome!"

"I might agree with you about the concert, but you tend to enjoy this job more than I do."

She released Pyrrha. "Don't be so sour. Just make sure you get some nice clothes for tomorrow night." Yang was immensely excited. She couldn't wait to see the look on Pyrrha's face when she realized who the client is.

 

* * *

 

Ruby and Ren watched Russel from the other side of the glass, waiting for Penny to enter the interrogation room. He was rather bored while resting his handcuffed arms on the table. "So," Ruby began, "how do you think she's gonna go about this?"

Ren thought about it for a second. "I don't know. What possible intimidation tactics could she possibly have?"

"Well, the chick eats up horror like it's candy. If she reads enough Lovecraft, then she might try and call upon Cthulhu."

Penny entered the interrogation room and Russel looked up at her. "Salutations, friend," she said. "Glad to meet you under better pretenses. Sorry about tackling you earlier, but resisting arrest is something that calls for action." As Penny took her seat, Ren and Ruby were already shaking their heads. "Would you like a glass of water? Something to eat? I know a snack helps me with my thinking."

Russel was just as confused as the observing officers. "I'm good."

"Very well. I mean, it would be nice to have something to eat and drink. Gets the brain flowing. You'll need it for this interrogation since I'll need to ask you a plethora of questions." Russel scoffed, but Penny never lost her cheerful demeanor. "Are you sitting comfortably? Do you need some adjustments like a back pillow?"

"Uh… okay. I see what you're doin'. The whole good-cop/bad-cop thing. Oldest trick in the book. Let me guess, some asshole who looks like he's been on steroids from birth is gonna come in and threaten to crush my head like a grape? Yeah, that shit ain't gonna work. If you know Taurus, he's much scarier than you could ever be."

"You seem to have many informal grammatical patterns. Would this be due to the fact that you didn't get past a high-school education?"

"You callin' me stupid, bitch?"

"Merely extrapolating. Now, tell me what you were doing selling drugs to those women. Were you working on behalf of Taurus?"

"I ain't telling you nothing."

"Double negative! That means you'll have to say something."

"You're doing that stupid shit again?"

"It helps to speak properly when addressing people."

"What the fuck. Are you even trying to be intimidating? This is getting pretty stupid."

"I only ask for you to cooperate. Cooperating with law enforcement is a valuable policy to have, especially when you work in such illegal trade as you. I imagine you won't do well when they send you to prison for drug trafficking. Mandatory minimums would put you in for at least forty years before even getting into evading a police officer."

"Ooh, scaring me with prison sentences. I've been to jail before. I'm not scared of that."

"Well, state prison would be quite different from jail. I do believe that the guards there seem to take enjoyment out of watching mob associates get stabbed repeatedly. And with some top-notch medical staff, they'd be able to stitch you up good as new just to be stabbed again." Everyone else was now unnerved by the fact that Penny didn't lose her cheerful demeanor. It caused an alarming dissonance.

Still, Russel maintained his tough-guy act. "Pssh. Don't make a difference to me. I got shot before."

"Maybe you have, but the infections that one could encounter when stabbed with a prison shiv can be incredibly deadly. Gangrene alone will result in an excruciating death."

"You think bein' sick is gonna scare me?"

"Oh, I'm merely stating facts for you. Should you not comply, the best you could do is rot in prison for most of your life. It wouldn't be a rather pleasant fate. No one would even bring you flowers! That doesn't seem fair, does it?"

"I don't…" Now he was confused. The woman's tone was optimistic, but everything she said was somewhat ominous. Ruby and Ren were also getting concerned. "I don't care about flowers."

Penny gasped. "You have to like flowers. They'll be the only gift you get. No one even buys you an adequate dinner. The prison food isn't great. Although there is a bright side."

"…What?"

"You could meet some new friends! There is this one guy they call Mitch who is really friendly. He likes to give big hugs so tight that you'll have trouble breathing. That's when you know you have a good hug." Russel's eyes widened. "And they have a saying about him. They say, and pardon my crassness, 'Bunk with Mitch, and he'll make you his bitch."

"Th- that doesn't sound like a great guy," Russel stuttered.

Penny looked at him almost as if she was genuinely confused. "Oh, no! He's great! He even has fun nicknames for people like 'Pretty boy' and 'Bunk buddy.' It sounds like he could be nice."

Russel started frantically pulling at the handcuffs, shouting for someone to get him out of there. "Is this a prank show or some shit like that?! Can I please just leave?!"

"What? Don't you want to make friends? If you don't, it will be a lonely, horrible descent into a pit of despair. You could lie awake at night while wondering how life could have turned out differently if you had obeyed the law. Realizing that the mistakes are only your own. Existential crises are common in the human experience, but at least you have a way to move on when you're not in prison." Penny stared at him with her doe eyes, piercing into his soul. "It is only a miserable downward spiral into many self-realizations that show that you were the only cause of your downfall." Ruby and Ren looked closer because they couldn't believe it. It seemed like Russel was about to cry. "And there will be no one to hold your hand in the end. You'll wish for the days when your mother would tuck you in at night and kiss you on the forehead. You may wonder what it feels like to have a lover's embrace and you think that if you didn't end up there, you could've seen that high school sweetheart that you missed so dearly. Hoping that you could've had the chance to make her happy. I know I would want the chance to make my high school sweetheart happy but being in prison would never let me have the chance. And in the end, all these problems of your own making will slowly consume you."

Russel finally hit his breaking point. "ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT! I'll tell you what you wanna know! Just stop talking at me like that!" He buried his face in his hands as he bawled his eyes out. Penny turned to the glass and winked, knowing Ruby and Ren were watching.

Those two were absolutely stunned with eyes wide and mouths agape. She wasn't exaggerating about making grown men cry. They had witnessed it firsthand and almost couldn't believe it. "Holy shit," they said in unison.

Penny began the questioning. "Now, do you know of any common hangouts for thugs like yourself?"

Russel answered, "Some guys go get hookers out on the edge of town. Others go to the abandoned buildings where a lot of junkies go. That's where we've been selling."

"On behalf of Taurus."

"Yeah… he's been trying to take over all the other illegal trades."

Ren and Ruby chuckled with satisfaction. "We got it," Ruby said. "We actually got it." It was a perfect turning point.

Penny continued, "Would you be willing to testify in exchange for a plea bargain?" Russel nodded, and Penny smiled. "Thank you very much, Mr. Thrush."

 

* * *

 

Emerald sat on Cinder's bed, waiting for her to return. She rubbed her shoulder as she waited. It was intimidating to her since Cinder ordered her to go to her room, strip all her clothes off, and wait for her to return. She didn't know what was coming. She brought her knees to her chest and wrapped her hands around her legs. And it didn't take long for the door to open. She looked up and saw Cinder enter wearing red and black lingerie. Emerald blushed when she saw her and Cinder chuckled at her reaction as she sauntered closer. "Like what you see?" Cinder said as she climbed onto the bed. Emerald nodded as she opened herself up, laying on her bed. "I'm sure that you've wanted to see this for a long time." Cinder's tone almost sounded like purring. Cinder pinned her down and kissed her gently, but passionately. Emerald's hands explored Cinder's body as the woman laid on top of her. Cinder chuckled. "That's right, darling." Cinder kissed her neck and moved down to her breasts. "Enjoy every inch." Cinder went down further as her tongue danced around Emerald's dark nipples as they hardened with arousal. Suffice to say, Emerald felt like it was a dream come true.

 

* * *

 

Ruby sat in Ozpin's office as they discussed plans for what to do with Russel. "So, we need to get this guy into protective custody," she said. "There's no telling what Cinder, Taurus, or any of their associates might do to take him out."

"I understand the concern, Rose," Ozpin replied, "but there's going to be a problem."

"Why? We need to get this guy out of here now."

"Well, you do know what's happening tomorrow night, right?"

Ruby did remember and was disappointed with it when she did. "Wiess Schnee's concert."

"Traffic in the streets of Vale both by car and pedestrians will make any large-scale operation almost impossible without raising alarm. We don't want to cause panic during a night like that. And considering how Ironwood doesn't want any incident on Schnee's visit. I can almost assure you that he would rather we not undertake this endeavor altogether." Damn, Ruby thought. "I can pull some strings to see if we can get things done the night after, but that's the best I can do."

"Can't you just tell Ironwood to pull his head out of his pompous ass for ten seconds so that he can realize how important this is? This is one of the biggest leads we've got, and we can't afford to lose it."

"Well, you're quite welcome to try, Rose. Honestly, I prefer keeping my job. If I can't do it, he'll find then next schmuck who can do it that will listen to his bullshit orders."

"At least we can agree that this is bullshit." Ruby sighed and conceded with the complication. "Can we get the planning for it done tonight?"

"We can start talking precautions and necessary vehicle movements tonight. The rest will have to wait for tomorrow. We'll still have two days to work on this." Ruby nodded.

After discussing the first steps to take on the operation, Ruby got done at the end of the day and went to talk to Blake. "Ugh, this is the worst."

"What's wrong?" Blake asked.

"We can't get our most important suspect into protective custody because of Schnee's concert. Ironwood won't wanna cause a panic and even if we could, it'll be difficult to block off enough roads to get this done. Honestly, this stupid concert is making my life way too difficult."

Blake chuckled. "Then, I don't know if it might be the best time to let you know that the surprise I was talking about earlier was getting us tickets to that stupid concert."

Ruby's mood changed almost instantly as soon as she pulled out the tickets. "Are you serious?!" Her smile broadened as she took the ticket, confirming that they were legit with her own eyes. "Holy shit! How did you get these?!"

"Sun, Ren, and I had been saving up a lot of money to get tickets as soon as we heard she'd be in town. I figured if your workload wasn't too much, you might think it was a nice break from everything. We got tickets for a few friends as well, so we'll have a pretty large group. And the best part is that someone had to cancel, so we had a free ticket for anyone who wanted to join last minute. Maybe you could invite the new girl."

"Oh, thank you!" She jumped up and hugged Blake. "You know what? That really did make me feel better!"

"And since you did actually catch the suspect in the first place and he's already been talking, I thought it could be a nice reward for you. Funny that you were complaining about it not but a minute ago."

Ruby giggled nervously. "Well... that was before I knew you had tickets for me."

"Then I guess you're partially responsible for not getting Russel out."

"Let's not go that far." Blake laughed at Ruby's dismissal.

 

* * *

 

Nora and Velvet were packing up their things for the end of the day after dealing with Nora's class of third graders. "Thanks for sticking behind, Velvet," she told her while packing up her lesson plans.

"Not a problem, Ms. V," Velvet replied. "I don't have much to do tonight anyway."

"Either way, I appreciate the assistance."

"Anything to help. And maybe get a good rec letter." Nora laughed at her comment while rolling her eyes. Suddenly, Ren entered the room. Nora didn't notice, but Velvet saw immediately saw. "Hottie at twelve o'clock."

Nora looked up and saw Ren walking in with a smirk on his face. She ran up to her boyfriend and hugged him. "Ren! What are you doing here?"

Ren said, "I came by to personally take you home. And to give you a little present."

"Really? What is it?" Ren reached into his pocket and pulled out the Weiss Schnee concert tickets. Nora's eyes widened. "Oh my gosh! Are… are you serious?!"

"We got tickets for a group of officers. Three of us got tickets for ourselves and a friend. And since Sun's ticket was free, maybe you can give it to your assistant here." Velvet's jaw dropped, and her eyes widened. "If you want to."

"YES!" Velvet shouted. She did not even hesitate. "I would love to go! Thank you so much!" She dropped to her knees and hugged him. Both Ren and Nora were shocked by this. "I'm making this weird, aren't I?"

"A little bit," Nora replied.

Just like that, she released him and composed herself. "Sorry. It's just… I'm a really big fan of Weiss. I have all her albums. I've been trying to get tickets ever since she announced she was coming to Vale."

"Well, you're welcome to come along," he said. "No need to worry about paying us back."

Velvet was speechless. She could barely spit anything out. "I… you… it…" She looked at Nora and said, "You better take good care of this man."

Nora laughed as she said, "Don't worry. You can count on that." She hugged him and kissed him passionately. In her mind, she was so glad that Tyler wasn't here to see any of this.

 

* * *

 

Ruby was at the coffee shop getting some stuff for herself, Blake, Ren, and Sun. It was her way of thanking them for the concert tickets (or it was at least a start). As soon as she picked up the order and looked at it as she drank her coffee, she realized that she was missing one item. She went back up to go get the other order… and she ran right into another woman's chest, causing the woman to drop her coffee. "Oh, shit!" Ruby exclaimed when she saw the coffee stain the blonde woman's shirt. "I'm so sorry, I'm sorry! I wasn't paying attention! Are you okay?!"

The blonde picked up the nearly empty coffee cups. "I’m fine," she said. "It was iced coffee anyway. And it didn't hit my hair, so no harm was done. Good day to wear a ponytail."

Ruby was relieved that the woman wasn't burned, but she was still embarrassed. "I'm still really sorry. I'm usually more careful than this."

"I got the receipt and I'm sure they saw it. I can get more." A worker stepped in to wipe up the coffee.

"I mean, I could always pay for…" Ruby was shocked when she saw the woman pull her shirt off in the middle of the shop. "Whoa!"

"What? The shirt is bad, and I didn't wanna ruin my bra."

"Yeah, but… you're okay with –"

"I do sex work over on the other side of town. I'm not particularly shy about my body. If anything, this counts as advertising."

"Oh." Ruby laughed at the joke.

"By the way, you almost damaged the merchandise, so…"

"Yeah, sorry about that, too." Ruby then remembered what Russel said, and realized something as the girl went back to the counter. She could have seen some more suspects. "Wait!" She walked up to the blonde. "You're a sex worker on the other side of town?"

"Yeah? Why? Are you interested?" The girl smirked at Ruby blushing. "If so, just tell them you're looking for Yang."

"I… actually have a wife, so…"

Yang just shrugged. "So do half of my clients. Besides, she can join if you're both okay with it."

"Uh… no, that's fine." Yang enjoyed how flustered she was making her. "I'm Sergeant Rose." Ruby displayed. "I think that you might be helpful to an investigation. Do you have any way I can contact you later?"

"Like I said, go out and tell them you're looking for Yang. Or just 'the busty blond' if you forget my name."

"Okay, but I might need your number to make sure that you know when I'm coming."

"Sure. Hold on." She rummaged through her pockets and pulled out a business card, confusing the officer. "A girl's gotta make a living."

"Fair enough." She pocked the card. "Thank you, Yang." Yang left with her new coffee as Ruby went up to get her missing order.

 

* * *

 

Later in the day, Ruby sat in Yang's room with her while Yang sat in her underwear. Ruby began asking her questions. "Tell me. What kind of clients do you have here?"

"All kinds," she answered. "Usually businessmen, politicians, celebrities, guys cheating on their wives. I've served many horny men in my line of work. I wouldn't say they're all dreamboats, but I'm not too picky about my clients. Pardon my French, but if they can pay, we can fuck. It's really that simple."

"No need to worry about profanity, Ms. Xiao Long."

"Oh, that's right. You were kinda swearing up a storm when you ran into my tits earlier."

"Again, really sorry about that." Yang chuckled. "Back on topic, have you served any criminals? A suspect of ours said mob associates decide to go here often."

Yang shrugged. "Probably, but I don't pay much attention to it. I'm not really paying much attention to where the money is from. A dollar from making minimum wage at a fast food joint usually looks about the same as a dollar made from making meth. It's really all the same to me once it hits that table."

"So, you don't ask any questions about criminal history?"

"You heard me earlier. A girl's gotta make a living. As long as they're not trying to rape me or kill me, I'm not really asking questions. You'd be hearing from me if they did. I'm usually able to fight them off myself."

"I see. Well, if you can, just be on the lookout for any suspicious people."

"Will do, Officer. By the way, that offer for you and your wife still stands."

Ruby smiled as she got up and left. "I'll consider it. Thanks again, Ms. Xiao Long. Make sure to call if you have any possible leads." Yang gave her a thumbs-up as she left.

 

* * *

 

Ren, Nora, and Velvet arrived at the concert and looked for their seats. In the crowd, they saw Sun, Blake, Ruby, and Penny waving at them to guide them to their seats. The trio walked over and took their seats. "Salutations, friends!" Penny shouted to greet them.

"Hey," Nora replied. "I'm Nora Valkyrie. This is my assistant, Velvet." Velvet waved.

Sun shook their hands and said, "Hey. I'm Sun. This is Ruby, Blake, and Penny." Each one of them waved as he mentioned their names. "Glad to have you here."

"Glad to be here." The trio took their seats and conversed as they waited for the concert to begin.

 

Yang and Pyrrha got in and took their seats near the front row. "Pretty great seats, right?" Yang asked. "Close, but not too close. Perfect distance from the stage. I told you this would be worth it."

"I just hope this benefactor of yours isn't some sleazy old guy or serial killer or something like that. It seems rather suspicious."

"There's a good reason that the person isn't here, but don't worry. We'll be fine." She smirked knowing that her client would be up onstage.

 

Weiss was backstage waiting to go out to perform. She adjusted her mic to make sure it was all working. The stage manager said, "Ready when you are, Ms. Schnee!" Weiss nodded in confirmation as she went to the rising platform.

"Ladies and gentlemen of Vale," the announcer said as Weiss started rising on the platform and the house lights went down. "We all know that you've all been waiting for this, so without further ado, give it up for Weiss Schnee!" Weiss got to the top of the stage, listening to the crowd cheer for her. A single spotlight shined on her as the music started.

 _[When... I was young](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6TrXkUjTIQ)_  
_If I just closed my eyes_  
_Then... I could go anywhere_  
_Dream of any place_  
_Imagination set the pace_  
_And my heart was happy there_

More lights came on to reveal her backup singers.

 _What a shame that you came_  
_Round and told me_  
_Said my dreams can't come true_  
_"Don't be foolish_  
_Give up your wish_  
_Big things aren't for you"_

Ruby was actually enjoying herself, but she saw Velvet and it looked like she was having a meltdown from the excitement. She couldn't help but laugh. Suddenly the music picked up and the LED backlight screens light up with an explosion of color.

 _You were the one_  
_Who held me down and told me_  
_I was heading nowhere_  
_You said know your place_  
_Accept your fate and show good face_  
_And be thankful that you're there_

Velvet looked over to Sun during the leadup to the chorus and screamed, "This is my favorite part!" Weiss started stepping down from the platform.

 _And now I'm so much stronger_  
_I'm not yours any longer_  
_I've got a message here for you_

 _Time for you to learn_  
_It's my turn_  
_I won't be held down any longer_  
_I've waited all my life and finally, it's here_  
_It all begins_  
_A chance to win_  
_A dream that's been a lifetime_  
_An endless vast uphill climb_  
_The day I've waited for is drawing near_

As the guitar solo played, Weiss shouted. "What's up, Vale!" The crowd cheered in response. "Are you ready for a great time tonight?!" More cheering came from the crowd. Ruby was surprised at how great a show Weiss put on. I guess she's not so overrated after all, she thought. Hearing the passion in her voice was something that she admired. Weiss even went down to the front of the stage to high-five some of her fans.

Yang leaned over to Pyrrha and asked, "Enjoying yourself?!"

Pyrrha smiled and said, "Yes, I admit that this is great!"

 _You rose I fell_  
_Made my life hell_  
_Anything to crush my soul_  
_Anything to feel control_  
_Finally free I've come so far_  
_Finally see how sick you are_  
_I spent my life degraded_  
_But I won't leave here jaded_  
_I'll start again and finally prove_

People joined in with the chorus, excited to be included in the experience. It wasn't long until the song died down and everyone onstage held their places, taking in the applause.

Weiss listened to the cheering of the crowd. "Thank you!" she said. "Thank you, everyone! I'm so glad to be here in Vale! You guys are great. I know the visit may have gotten off to a rough start, but things are improving. I appreciate the well-wishes you sent me." The crowd cheered for her once again and she couldn't help but smile. "Thank you. I wanted to share a new song with you. I started writing it when I was in a pretty dark place though, but I decided to finish it because someone else might need something to connect to." She went up to the grand piano as she prepared to sing the song.

 _[It starts](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89P6uir40ZI)_  
_With the unexpected loss_  
_Of something dear_  
_The warmth_  
_That comforted and cradled_  
_Just disappears_

Yang could tell that the song had something to do with her hiding what she was. And she could hear it in the way she sang it. There were some small cheers here and there, but the stadium stayed silent while they listened to the song.

 _Bitterness and anger_  
_Are quick to fill the void_  
_The path to isolation_  
_Is littered with the dreams that lay destroyed_

The drums picked up and people started cheering louder. When Weiss began singing again, her piano playing became much more passionate. More dancers came out on stage as Weiss continued to play.

 _The cold_  
_Seems to grow in my soul_  
_It’s consuming me_  
_Confused_  
_And I’m losing myself_  
_In the storm_  
_Growing jaded_  
_Being pushed being pulled_  
_I’m unraveling_  
_Can’t find myself when I’m_  
_Constantly forced to conform_

Yang heard the plea for help in the beautiful song and it almost made her cry. Pyrrha noticed something about Yang was off, but she couldn't put a finger on it.

 _Everything is breaking_  
_Right before my eyes_  
_Looking in the mirror_  
_I see someone that I don’t recognize_

As Weiss continued with the piano solo, she meditated on the meaning behind these lyrics for her. Except for Yang, no one knew what this song truly meant for her. Guitarists came out and as the song picked up the pace once again. Weiss grabbed the mic hanging over the piano and took it off the stand.

 _The joy_  
_That my heart used to know_  
_Is eluding me_  
_Removed_  
_And the one thing I feel is alone_

Weiss stepped away from the piano as she continued to sing. Another pianist took her spot as she went out further onto the stage. She put her heart and soul into every word she sang.

 _Everything my mind wants_  
_In conflict with my heart_  
_Fighting back surrender_  
_But every day I’m falling more apart_

Weiss paused, waiting for the piano solo to end, thinking about everything she hid in the song.

 _Mirror what’s this thing I see?_  
_Who is staring back at me?_  
_A stranger to my heart has filled my mind_

Weiss dropped to her knees on the stage as if the meaning of the lyrics weighed on her.

 _Mirror_  
_Help me_  
_Who am I?_

Weiss ended as she heard the applause for her song. And only one audience member knew that she spilled her heart and soul out right on that stage. Yang could only cheer for her and clap, but inside, she knew what Weiss was saying. Knowing that she had to help her out with it later tonight made her quite perceptive of it. "Thank you, everybody!" Weiss said as she stood.

The concert continued with a lot of more upbeat songs with all the audience singing along. Everyone was loving it. At the end of the day, Weiss was feeling at her best when she was singing up onstage. It felt great, and for a moment, all her problems seemed to melt away.

 

* * *

 

The group of officers and their companions exited the concert, elated by the amazing opportunity they had just experienced. Once they were out, they said their goodbyes. Ren, Nora, and Velvet left together. Sun offered to take Penny home. And that left Ruby and Blake to head back to their apartment. They interlocked arms as they walked down the street. "Well," Ruby said, "I enjoyed that even more than I thought I would."

"I knew you would," Blake replied. "I'm glad you could be here."

"Thanks, honey." She kissed Blake on the lips. "I appreciate it. Honestly, I don't know how I could pay you back."

"I mean, you don't have to do that, but I can think of one way." Blake's smirk let Ruby know exactly what she meant.

But their happy moment was interrupted by a man wielding a gun. He pointed it at the couple as they froze in their tracks. "Wallet, jewelry, phones, any valuable shit. Hand it over before I fucking kill you."

The officers had dealt with their fair share of robbers. He seemed like a junkie looking to get money for a fix. Ruby and Blake knew what to do. "Okay," Blake calmly replied. "We'll do that. Just take it easy, buddy."

"I'm not fuckin' around!"

"I believe you. Just hold on." Blake reached into her pocket and pulled out her wallet. She handed it over to him while Ruby smiled next to her.

This confused the junkie. "What are you smiling at, you bitch?!"

He pointed the gun at Ruby and Blake used it as an opening to knock his gun-wielding hand to the side. It fell out and Blake was able to knee him in the stomach and pin his arm behind him. Ruby picked up the gun as the junkie groaned in pain. "By the way," Blake said, "never point a gun at my wife."

"What do you say, Officer Belladonna?" Ruby asked. The junkie's eyes widened when he realized who he was messing with. "Should we take this guy to the precinct?"

"Indeed, we should, Officer Rose."

"Bullshit," he said. "You ain't cops."

"Oh, trust us," Ruby replied. "You see how bullshit it is once we take you straight to the police chief." Blake picked him up and pushed him to the precinct. Ruby called them to let them know. "This is Sergeant Rose. We've got a perp from an attempted robbery here. We're bringing him to the precinct." Just like that, Ruby's night got even better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **FUN FACTS:**  
>  * This chapter is sitting at about 8200 words, 700 words longer than _Prelude to Chorus_! Did not expect it to get this long. A lot of plot elements that I didn't expect to add.  
>  * I feel like the new joke is just going to be having Cardin getting punished in every other scene that he shows up in, just because I don't like him. He will have some complex nuances, but I just wanna humiliate him a bit.  
> * Adam does like smaller women. It's kind of a fetish of his. (I'll let you decide what that says about him.)  
> * In-story, Weiss wrote "The Path to Isolation" very recently (like a few months ago). I felt like it was a fitting parallel to this Weiss' situation.  
> * I didn't plan on Tyrian being the Panda Killer originally, but when I wanted to include him, I decided to make the connection.  
> * Penny's interrogation tactics are well-known in Atlas among the criminals. Bad guys hope that they don't end up getting interrogated by her.  
> * Yang isn't a nudist (She's not gonna go out streaking at random.), but she isn't embarrassed about showing off her body in public.  
> * Yes, Velvet is a HUGE Weiss Schnee fan.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed. This'll be the last thing I post here for a while since I'll be out for about a week. But still, make sure to post whatever comments and questions you have. I'll respond to them (if I have something to say about it) when I get back. Thanks for the comments I've received earlier and thanks for reading so far. I hope you enjoyed it and I look forward to continuing this story. :)


	9. Playing a Dangerous Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Weiss spends the night with Pyrrha and Yang, the mob starts advancing their further plans to keep their businesses running.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one will be a more villain-focused chapter. I know that the villains have been focused on a lot, so it might not seem that different, but I'm a sucker for villains. (Just look at half my fics on here. You'll see that.)

Tyrian awaited treatment in the mental health facility he was staying in at the moment. He didn’t expect it to do any good. It never did the last times he was there. He knew how to bluff the system. However, this time was different. When Harvey came for him in the precinct that day, he gave him some excellent news. He just waited for it to go into effect.

It wasn’t long until two orderlies came to take him away. “Hey, freak,” one man said. Tyrian looked up at them. “You’re getting transferred. Get moving.”

“Not even so much as a ‘please’?” Tyrian replied. “How impolite of you gentlemen.”

“Yeah, because cutting a woman into seven pieces is especially polite.”

“Come now. We inhabit a civilized society, do we not? It isn’t cumbersome to afford our fellow man the decency of civility.”

One of the orderlies grabbed Tyrian and handcuffed his wrists behind his back. “Just fucking move!”

Tyrian acted offended as he was pushed down the corridor. “Very well. It’s not like it would hurt you ruffians to exercise a minute sense of compassion.”

“You’re one to talk.”

Tyrian was escorted to the back of the facility and put in a black truck. After he was handed over, the door was slammed shut and the truck left immediately. Since he assumed it would be a long trip, Tyrian decided to pass the time by talking to the driver.  “Oh, dear. You could not fathom the amount of mistreatment I have endured. It’s almost as if this world is pitted against me.” The driver did not respond. “I suppose a man of your position doesn’t possess a wealth of freedom to express your opinions of those who oppress you, but I must express my suffering. Otherwise, who will?” Still nothing. Tyrian’s eyes narrowed as he tried to see into the rearview mirror. “You aren’t a loquacious one, are you? What is it? Do you low-level grunts have a policy against conversing with the patients?”

The driver finally responded, “I’d rather not talk to you.”

As soon as he heard the man’s voice, something clicked. “Wait. A. Minute. I recognize that voice! Is that you, Mr. Rainart?” As Hazel heard the excitement in the lunatic’s voice, he grimaced in response. He was annoyed that he had improved Tyrian’s mood. “How has life been treating you, old acquaintance? It has been ages!”

“Listen here, Callows. First, understand that we are **not** friends. Not even close. So, don’t even  act like it.”

“Grumpy as always.”

“Second, I’m taking you to a job assignment. There’s a man that I work for who’d like to have a word with you. Do not make me regret recommending  you.”

Tyrian gasped. “You thought of me!”

“Don’t take it as a compliment, Callows.”

“Alright, killjoy. Say, now that I recall, how is that family of yours?” Hazel tensed up with anger and gripped the steering wheel tighter. “It has been a while since I had the pleasure of meeting the lovely Lydia and sweet little Cassie. Tell me, is she still ill? I would be gleeful to rid her of the suffering she’s in.” He has a deranged grin as he spoke.

“Are you wearing a seatbelt?”

Tyrian’s expression changed to one of annoyance. “No. The gorillas who shoved me in here didn’t bother to account for my –“

Hazel didn’t allow him to finish his sentence before swerving the truck to slam Tyrian into the door. From here, Hazel’s tone became more menacing. “Listen here, you son of a bitch. If you go anywhere near my family, I will subject you to every horrendous thing you’ve done to your victims.” He glared into the mirror as he said, “Do. Not. Test. Me.”

Tyrian didn’t fear many things, but he did fear Hazel’s wrath. He was not too keen on incurring that wrath, so he tended to be very careful when dealing with him. Hazel was truly the only person who could control him. Already, the murderer was quaking with fear. “I… I only meant that… I wanted to find a cure for her. That’s all.” He laughed nervously, but Hazel’s glare intensified.

“Just understand that you will have orders to follow.”

Tyrian sighed. “Very well. Who is this enigmatic employer that I shall be having the pleasure of meeting?”

“You’ll meet him soon. Right now, you just need to know that he is responsible for the fact that you’re not sitting in a jail cell right now.”

“Curiouser and Curiouser.” Hazel was thankful that Tyrian decided to stay quiet for the remainder of the ride.

Torchwick waited for Hazel to bring Tyrian to him for the discussion. He wasn’t looking forward to it. Working with lunatics wasn’t particularly a business strategy that he considered sound. But he was in need of more bodies to harvest organs. It was the only solution he was given. Thankfully for him, after such a long wait, Hazel entered with Tyrian at his side. His deranged grin didn’t inspire confidence. Torchwick said, “I’m guessing this is the man you told me about?”

Tyrian moved forward and bowed. “Tyrian Callows at your service. And if my memory serves me right, you must be the great Roman Torchwick. I’ve heard much about you in the criminal underworld. I’m pleased to know that I shall be under your employ.”

“If you think flattery is going to win my favor… you’re absolutely right.” Toechwick smirked at the compliment. “But, that isn’t your job. You are going to help Hazel collect bodies for organs.”

“Well, if the job requires murder, I’d be elated to oblige.” Tyrian gave some deranged cackling.

“Slow down there, Callows. I understand that you want to start stabbing to your heart’s content, but I need you to understand that the bodies need to be intact. The most you need to do is a quick slash to the throat. Don’t damage any vital organs.”

Tyrian’s smile shrank. “Not as fun, but if you need bodies, I shall provide.”

Torchwick smiled. “Excellent. You can start tomorrow.”

“How about tonight?”

“You can’t,” Hazel said. “We need to make sure that you’ll do the job without getting caught. Until then, you’ll be under my watch.”

“Aw! You know I can do the job.”

“The job is to kill and not get caught. You only get part one down.”

Tyrian pouted. “Fine. I will abide by your restrictive requests.”

Roman smiled and said, “Don't worry. I’m sure the body count will make up for it.”

 

* * *

 

Yang and Pyrrha waited in a secluded area, waiting for their client to arrive. Yang couldn’t wait to see the look on Pyrrha’s face when she saw who it was. Pyrrha asked, “Are you sure this is the right place?”

It wasn’t long until a limo pulled up next to them. Yang walked up to the window as it was rolled down. When Yang saw Weiss, she put on her flirtatious expression. “Hey, baby,” Yang said. “Looking for a fun night?”

Weiss chuckled and shook her head as she said, “Get in the fucking car.”

“Sure. One small request. Can you roll the window up? I wanna surprise my friend.”

Weiss didn’t know what Yang was planning, but she was intrigued. “Why the hell not?”

Yang was already giddy. “Awesome! Gimme a sec.” As the window rolled up, Yang went back to Pyrrha. “I’m gonna need you to close your eyes.”

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow. “Why?” she said in a stern tone.

“Just do it. Please!” Pyrrha didn’t want to deal with Yang’s begging, so she complied. Yang smiled as she pulled Pyrrha along. “No peeking until I tell you.” Pyrrha had a bad feeling about this. Yang opened the door and helped Pyrrha into one side of the seat, right next to Weiss. The singer kept herself from giggling to keep from spoiling the surprise. Yang got in on the other side of Weiss and looked at Pyrrha’s confusion. As the limo started moving, Yang finally said, “Open your eyes.”

Pyrrha wasn’t looking at Weiss when she initially opened them, but one look to her left was all it took to puts her into complete shock. Her eyes widened as she shouted, “HOLY FUCK!” Weiss and Yang laughed as they watched Pyrrha’s shock. “Yang… is this…?”

“Weiss, meet my friend Pyrrha Nikos.”

Weiss held out her hand for Pyrrha and said, “Pleasure to meet you.” Pyrrha’s expression was frozen as she hesitantly shook the pop star's hand. “I’m sure you have a lot of questions.”

Pyrrha blurted, “That would be an understatement.”

Yang explained, “Long story short, she’s gay and is only marrying Neptune to make her parents happy. She can’t tell him because he’s really in love with her and she didn’t wanna break his heart. She ended up coming to me a few nights ago and made me swear not to say anything.”

“Oh. Is that all?”

“When we get where we’re going,” Weiss answered, “I can explain more. By the way, Glynda, how long until we get to the motel?”

Glynda replied, “About thirty minutes not accounting for evading onlookers. We could have picked a more inconspicuous vehicle though.”

“Wait!” Yang shouted as she looked at the front seat. “You’re telling me you already had a busty blonde assistant and you still went to me? I’m pretty sure she’s got bigger boobs than me! Those are at least an F-cup!”

“G-cup actually.”

“Oh my gosh! How have you not fucked her six ways to Sunday?”

Weiss defended herself by saying “Excuse you! My relationship between me and Ms. Goodridge is strictly professional.” She then shamefully added, “Plus, I already asked and she said no.” Glynda rolled her eyes.

Pyrrha asked, “Also, what did she mean by getting a more inconspicuous vehicle? Did you choose this one.”

“Well,” Weiss began with a smile, “I was thinking about what Yang said about living it up like a rock-star and…” She scooted closer to Yang and fondled her breast. “…I thought, ‘Why wait for the motel?’” She leaned in and kissed the blonde.

Yang chuckled and said, “Glad I could inspire you.”

As they kissed, Pyrrha was still in shock. Yang looked at the redhead and Weiss took notice when Yang stopped. She turned around to see Pyrrha’s stunned face. “You don’t have to do anything if you’re not comfortable with it.”

That’s when Pyrrha finally got her bearings (relatively) straight enough to focus on talking. “I’m sorry,” she said, “it’s just that I’m still trying to process all of this.  Yang, I thought you didn’t like girls.”

“I don’t like half the guys I get paid to fuck,” Yang said. “Yet, I still do it. Besides, I feel like she was really in need of some stress relief.”

“Okay…”

“So, what do you say, P? Still unsure about it?”

“I, uh…” Pyrrha really wasn’t sure about this, but… Yang seemed okay with it, and it’s not like she really enjoyed being a sex worker in the first place. And since Weiss was willing to pay double price for both of them… it wasn’t much different from any other job other than the fact that she was catering to a woman. “…Sure.”

“Really?” Weiss said.

“Yes. I’m willing to do this.”

Weiss’ smile broadened. “Thank you.” Pyrrha returned the smile.

Yang stepped in and said, “Now that we got that out of the way, how about we keep going?”

Weiss leaned towards Pyrrha. “You don’t mind starting here, do you?”

Pyrrha hesitantly shrugged. “As long as you’re paying.”

Weiss gave a small smile before kissing Pyrrha. The redhead eventually kissed back, slowly getting used to kissing another girl. Weiss decided to explore as her hands went up Pyrrha’s shirt. Weiss backed up as she decided to take a look at Pyrrha’s breasts. Pyrrha could tell that Weiss was liking what she was seeing by the way she fondled and sucked on them. She allowed it to happen as Weiss pushed her closer to the door. Yang scooted closer to Weiss and whispered, “You might wanna save some for the main course tonight.”

Weiss said, “I guess this is just the foreplay?”

Both women laughed as Yang pulled them all down to the limo floor. Glynda asked, “Is everyone okay back there?”

“We’re fine, Glynda.” Weiss addressed her companions by saying, “We were going to end up here eventually.” Yang and Pyrrha laughed with her as they continued.

 

* * *

 

Mercury spent the night down at Cinder’s private shooting range. Cinder often spent time here to practice her own shooting, but she allowed Mercury to use it when she was busy. If he wasn’t spending his free time having sex with Yang, he was doing this. (He really didn’t consider sex with Cinder to be free time. After their first few sessions, it became part of Mercury’s job description.)

Emerald walked into the range to talk to Mercury. She wanted to prove that Cinder did love her, just to prove him wrong about his insult from earlier. She covered her ears as she waited for Mercury to stop shooting. When he did, she tapped his shoulder to get his attention. “Hey, Em,” he said. “What are you doing here?”

Emerald hesitated. “Well… you were wrong.”

Mercury reloaded his gun. “About what?”

“About me and Cinder. She… she acknowledged my affections.”

Mercury snickered, disappointing Emerald for the fact that he didn’t believe her. “Bullshit. There’s no way she’d go for you.”

“She did. She even had sex with me.”

“And you’re not covered in bruises?  You wouldn’t last long with the way Cinder likes to fuck.”

“She wasn’t. She was gentle with me.”

“Are we talking about the same Cinder here? The one who likes to turn people into living bonfires? That Cinder? Because that Cinder being gentle doesn’t make any sense.”

Emerald was frustrated with Mercury’s skepticism. “What the hell do I have to do to make you believe me?”

“If I see you naked in bed with Cinder, maybe then I’ll believe you. Now, if you don’t have any orders to pass on from her, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t waste my time.” Mercury took aim once again and Emerald stormed off with her hands on her ears. However, she had to admit that Mercury had one good point. She didn’t need to spend her time proving anything to him.  She knew what she had with Cinder was real.

 

* * *

 

Weiss sat in a chair in the motel room, waiting for Yang and Pyrrha to exit the bathroom. “Are you ready?” Yang yelled.

“Yes,” Weiss replied, anxious to see what they were preparing for.

It turns out, it was not a disappointment when Pyrrha came out prepared for a lap dance. Weiss was excited about it.

As Pyrrha finished up, Yang came out of the bathroom and said, “I told you, Pyrrha gives the best lap dances.”

Weiss agreed, “She really does. Thanks, Pyrrha.”

Pyrrha blushed. “Well,” she said, “I’ve never given one to a woman before, so I was a bit self-conscious about that.”

“I didn’t notice. You were going like a pro.”

“Thank you.” She still couldn’t believe that she just performed a lap dance for **Weiss Schnee** of all people. Life could be rather interesting.

“I guess now,” Yang intercepted, “we can get around to part two of the evening. I’m guessing you remembered to bring the stuff, Weiss?”

Weiss went to her bag and pulled out two brand new strap-ons. She couldn’t ask Coco for hers, so she had Glynda pick up a couple for tonight. (And she’d be looking forward to a huge pay-raise after making her search through a sex shop for them.) Weiss asked, “Are you sure you wanna go with these first? I did bring my vibrator if you wanna use that.”

“It’s your time. We’re paid to do what you want.” Weiss laid down the strap-ons and handed Yang the vibrator. Weiss stripped as she laid on the bed. “Actually… why don’t we let Pyrrha take care of this?”

Pyrrha was a bit caught off guard by the request, but she still went to pleasure Weiss. Pyrrha watched as the white-haired woman writhed under her. Weiss moaned louder and louder as Pyrrha kept going. “Oh, yes…”

“I think she’s enjoying it,” Yang said as she rolled a condom onto one of the strap-ons.

“You bet.” Weiss gripped the sheets and it didn’t take her long to finally come.

Pyrrha asked, “Are you okay?”

“You have no idea.”

Yang then tossed the dildo on the bed. “Alright,” Yang said, “are you ready for round two?”

Weiss nodded as she put on the harness. Pyrrha decided to sit at the side to rest. She watched as Weiss kissed Yang and pushed her onto the bed, preparing to penetrate the blonde. Weiss pumped into Yang while making the bed shake. They could’ve sworn that people in the nearby rooms could hear it. Yang moaned loudly as she let Weiss bang her.

Weiss grabbed Yang and flipped over on her back. As she let Yang ride the dildo, Weiss said, “Pyrrha. Why are you sitting over there when I have a nice seat for you over here?”

Pyrrha looked around and then realized what Weiss was asking when she pointed at her own face. "Oh," she replied. "I, uh… okay." She went to grab a dental dam from Weiss' bag and squatted over Weiss' face. Pyrrha was surprised at how good she was at giving head. The three girls went at it for almost two more hours and Weiss loved every second of it. Pyrrha even joined in by grabbing her own strap-on and helping Weiss have sex with Yang. Weiss didn't intend to forget this for a long time.

After the long night, they were exhausted. Weiss laid between the two buxom women as she pulled off the harness and tossed it to the side. “That…” Weiss began, out of breath, “…was… amazing… thank you…”

“Don’t mention it,” Yang replied.

The laid down to rest, but Pyrrha still had some nagging questions. “Weiss… if you don’t mind me asking… why are you hiding all of this? Hiding who you are?”

She knew the question would come up eventually. I guess it was only natural that it came up now, Weiss thought. She took a deep breath and explained her dilemma. “My parents are quite loving people. Always supportive of me, but… there was always pressure to find a nice husband and have grandkids, but I didn’t want that and I couldn’t bear to see them unhappy about me not wanting that. I didn’t know what to do.”

Yang guessed, “Is that why you went for Neptune?”

Weiss nodded. “Neptune was the compromise. He seemed nice enough and I wanted to make sure he was a good guy so that when I had to tell him that I was a lesbian and needed to use him as a cover, he wouldn’t try anything… drastic.” Yang and Pyrrha had plenty of experience with how men could be when they got turned down, so they fully understood Weiss’ concern. “The one thing I didn’t count on was Neptune genuinely falling in love with me. I thought he was just one of those guys who just wanted sex but was nice enough to respect boundaries. I would’ve let him have other mistresses on the side if he wanted, but… he wasn’t like that at all. Suddenly, it became a hell of a lot tougher to admit that he was going to be part of a ruse. I really didn’t want to break his heart.”

“So, you’re cheating on him?” Pyrrha asked. Concern was plain on her face.

“I’m not exactly proud of it, but I haven’t been with a woman in so long. I just… needed the break from this masquerade.” Even Yang’s expression was somber. “I’m sorry to be bringing you guys down like this. I know this whole thing seems fucked up, but I really don’t know anymore. Now, I’ve gotta marry him and he’ll never know the truth.”

“You need to tell him.” Yang and Weiss looked over at Pyrrha. “You have to tell him the truth. I’m not saying you should do it now, but the longer you wait… the tougher it will be to confess.” Pyrrha almost felt like she was talking to herself about Jaune.

Weiss sighed. “I’ll try, but at this point… I don’t know if I can make up for lying to him for so long.”

Yang added, “Pyrrha’s right, though. You gotta to rip off the band-aid. It’ll only hurt him more if you hold it off.”

Weiss gave a small smile. “Thanks, guys. For everything. I really do appreciate it.”

 

* * *

 

The next day, Chief Port began the regular briefings for the precinct. “Listen up, everyone!” he shouted. “First order of business is the movement of suspect Russel Thrush into protective custody. He will be taken up to County where he will remain to hide him from the likes of Adam Taurus and Cinder in case either of them decides to silence him. The commissioner will be done here later tonight to oversee the operation. Sergeant Rose!” Ruby looked up as her name was announced. “You will join the commissioner to see to it that your suspect is in good hands. See me after the briefing to discuss further plans.”

“Yes, sir!” she replied.

“We will need choppers mobilized by 1830. Armored vehicles will be prepared by 1800. And the whole operation will be carried out once the signal is given that the path is clear. We will start clearing the path at 1730. Understood?”

“Yes, sir!” everyone else replied. As the briefing continued, Cardin paid close attention to all the proceedings to report back to Cinder. After Port finished with the announcements, Cardin kept watch of where Ruby was going. He saw her walking to Port and Ozpin, keeping his distance as he listened in on their conversation.

“Thank you for coming, Rose,” Ozpin said as he greeted her. “I’m glad to know that you’ll be assisting with Thrush’s transfer.”

“I’m glad that you’re allowing me to do this,” Ruby replied. “Especially after the incident with Sky. I got the news today.” Her tone became more somber when she remembered that Sky succumbed to his wounds that morning. She was devastated to know that she killed the suspect. In her time as an officer, she had to kill three other people and it never got any easier.

Ozpin took a reassuring tone. “There was nothing you could have done. You had to protect yourself and those bystanders around you. He made his choice and he knew what would happen. It’s not your fault.”

“It doesn’t really help much, sir.”

“Still, we need to focus on the transfer of the suspect tonight. You at least managed to bring the one suspect in for questioning.”

“I do feel better about that, but I won’t feel that we’re accomplished until we get Russel down to County. So, how’s this gonna go?”

“Well, Peter and I were talking, and we decided that it would be best if we managed to have an element of surprise.”

Port explained, “We knew that those mobsters would be after him and would try to attack the convoy. Since they know where suspects are usually kept, we decided to bluff them and have a separate operation. No one will know about it. The vehicle in the convoy will be empty and we’ll be able to fight them off if they decide to ambush us while Russel is taken to safety.”

“Are you sure?” Ruby asked. “That’s a pretty big gamble to take.”

Ozpin reassured her, “We’ve been discussing this extensively. Cinder is incredibly careful and wouldn’t want anyone getting information that could lead to her arrest. If Russel is right and Taurus is trying to push his way into the arms trade, then we could get through to her and see what territory he’s trying to take. If he’s going in a different vehicle going a different route that no one knows about, we can hide him long enough to get him to County safely.”

“Makes sense. And if we don’t start clearing out the roads for him, then no one should suspect anything?”

“Precisely.”

Unfortunately for them, Cardin heard the whole thing, and he’d be reporting to Cinder very soon.

 

* * *

 

Vernal and Ilia spent a whole night mixing chemicals for Raven and they were still working well into the morning. Raven finally got enough supplies to mass-produce her new drug mixtures and she was hard at work getting the supply made. Ilia stopped to take a call from her dad. “Dad! I told you I’m making a lot of money from this… Yes, I know pharmacy school is good, but I think this will work… What do you mean? … What?! Dad, April is nice once you get to know her… You know why I can’t do that! I tell you this every fucking time you ask! … I know, but that’s kinda difficult right now. I’m risking a lot just talking to you on the phone right now.”

“Ilia!” Vernal yelled, startling Ilia. “I told you to get more pseudo for the batch!”

“I have to go. Love you, dad.” She hung up and rushed over with the pseudoephedrine. “Sorry, April.”

“How many times have I told you not to rush in the lab?”

“I’m sorry. I panicked.”

“You know that panicking is the easiest way to turn this place from a meth lab to an IED. This is basic goddamn stuff that you should know!” She started to notice Ilia’s fear in response to Vernal’s outburst. Vernal took a deep breath and calmed down. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you. I’ve just been under a lot of stress lately with the shipments and Raven breathing down my neck. It’s fuckin’ exhausting.”

“Do you… need a break? I can look over the lab if you want.”

Vernal sighed. “I guess I could use a quick break. I’ll be back in about ten minutes just to clear my head.”

Ilia kissed her on the cheek. “Take all the time you need. I’ll try not to blow up the lab while you’re gone.”

Vernal smiled as she left. She grabbed a box of cigarettes and started to take a smoke. She tried not to smoke so often, but she felt like needed this for how tense she was. As she started to take the first drag, she saw a person walking into the lab. The secure facility that Raven said no idiot could just waltz in. Now she was concerned. “Hey! You’re not supposed to be here.”

She heard a female voice respond, “Don’t worry darling. I’ll make this quick.” The figure stepped into the light and revealed a white-haired, red-eyed, pale-skinned elderly woman clad in black with a low-cut top. “I just need a moment with your boss.”

Vernal backed up to the wall as the old woman walked closer. “I don’t know what you want, but I doubt she’ll wanna talk to you, old lady.”

“Oh, come now.” The woman gently held Vernal’s chin and lifted it up to look her in the eye. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you to respect your elders?” She plucked the cigarette out of Vernal’s mouth and dropped it on the ground.

She stepped on it as her hand went to Vernal’s hips. Now, she was startled. “What the hell are you doing?”

The women smiled before leaning in closer to whisper, “Hoping I can persuade you.”

Vernal jumped as the woman’s hand went to the small of Vernal’s back. “I have a girlfriend. She’s in the lab right now.”

The woman reached into her back pocket. “Then, perhaps I can convince you in another way.” Vernal froze when she felt a knife being pressed against her jugular. “No sudden movements or else I split your throat wide open.”

“What do you want?” Vernal stuttered.

The older woman smirked. “Just tell me where I can find your boss.”

 

* * *

 

Qrow spent half his day speaking with local senators and dealing out the necessary bribes to keep the Branwen crime ring on the streets. Senator Jason Calvin was still not convinced to work with the Branwens and needed to be persuaded. He managed to get him to a private meeting where no one would be listening in. He poured him a cup of hot tea for their discussion. “Thanks for speaking with me, Senator,” Qrow said as he took his seat. “I heard that you were assaulted earlier today.”

Raven had the men sent after him to take the bribe initially. For the morally compromised members, it was pretty easy to get them to cooperate. However, there were always some who wouldn’t budge. Calvin was one of them. This is one of the rare occasions where Qrow had to get his hands relatively dirty to get things done. “I know,” Calvin replied. “I can’t believe that your sister would go to such lengths to bribe public officials. She is truly barbaric.”

“Yeah, she…” Qrow had a flashback. _Raven forcing him down in the back of their dad’s car. Remembering her savage face._ He recovered from it long enough to keep up the meeting. “ …she really is. Rather heinous that she’d do that to you.”

“I don’t know what she has to gain from this. I ran on a platform of honesty and fairness. I’m not compromising my principals just for money!”

“It’s good that you turn down the lobbyists that approach you. That sort of thing is never usually politically popular.”

“That goes to show you the state of politics. If a politician isn’t in the pocket of some big company, they’re taking bribes from criminals.”

Qrow chuckled. “Well, you are a family man, so it’s good that your children have an excellent role-model to aspire to. How old are your kids again?”

“Tanner is seven and Elise just turned four. Nancy does a good job of taking them while I’m doing my job.”

“I’m sure she does. She seems like a lovely woman…”

_“I’m sure you’ll find a lovely woman,” Raven said. She stood in front of him as she moved her hands to her chest. “You just need to get used to the idea. I know you’ll take to it eventually.”_

Qrow zoned out momentarily while Calvin talked. Thankfully, he didn’t notice. Qrow noticed that the man was in the middle of a story about his wife. Enough time to put on his best face once again. “…so good with children that our neighbors call her ‘the child-whisperer.’ It’s kinda funny. You know what I mean?”

“I certainly do. Though, I wonder what will happen if Raven goes after them. She already got to you, so who’s to say that she won’t try to go after loved ones?”

“I think you might be a little too worried.”

“I don’t know. You never know how those gang types are. I mean, if she were to find out about them living at 549 Steinway Road in your two-story red-brick house with the two windows in the front.” Calvin’s smile disappeared. “Or she could send some men to go find your son over at Signal Elementary while he’s attending Ms. Evan’s class in room 108 at 7:45.” Qrow shrugged. “Really, anything could happen.”

Calvin finally pieced it together. “You’re working with your sister.”

“‘With’ would be more appropriate. Don’t worry, Calvin. Your kids will be safe… if you accept our payment and do as you’re told. Tell me, is upholding your sense of justice really worth your kids’ lives?” Fear filled Calvin’s face as Qrow’s smirk extended.

“You’re bluffing.”

“You wish I was. So, are you going to cooperate? I could have them taken out at any minute.” Qrow opened up his tablet and showed a live feed from one of Raven’s men waiting outside Signal. “All it takes is one text to Raven and they track your kid as soon as he leaves the building. And don’t try exposing me. I can have the tablet’s memory wiped remotely from my phone and that idiot Ironwood already trusts me. It’ll be your word against mine. Do you think he’s gonna trust some rookie legislator? The choice is yours, Calvin.”

As soon as Qrow closed the tablet, Calvin was already sweating bullets. He was horrified by what the siblings could possibly do. Reluctantly, he realized that he had no choice. “You bastard… Fine. I’ll take the money. Just don’t touch my kids.”

“Glad that you’re a reasonable man. And think of it this way. You’ll get some extra cash for your family. Buy your wife something nice, get your kids through college, or go for a family vacation. It’s not a negative thing.”

“You know… you’re really sick, Qrow. To do something like this to a man’s family.”

Qrow could already sense that another flashback was coming. _“You’re fucking sick, Qrow!” he heard his sister say._

He had to get out so he rushed his exit from the meeting. “Yeah, well that’s just business.” He got out of his seat and rushed for the door. “I’ll be seeing you soon, Calvin.”

As soon as he exited the office, he rushed to the nearest bathroom. He locked himself in a bathroom stall and was sweating as he tried to forget his sister’s abuse. Memories flooded his mind as he tried to escape them. No matter what, it was difficult to escape them for long. He had barely been eating over the last few days. He didn’t eat much before, but it started to get worse.

 

* * *

 

Cinder sat on her bed as Emerald was at her feet. Cinder allowed the woman to kiss her legs all the way up from her toes to her hips. Emerald gave special attention to her feet and ankles before moving up to her calves. “You’re such a good girl, Emerald,” Cinder moaned just before she let her rest her head between her thighs. “That’s it…” She rested her palm on Emerald’s cheek as allowed the girl to suck on her thumb. She bit her lip and said, “Now show me how much you love me.”

“Yes ma’am,” Emerald replied. She opened her mouth and began to pleasure Cinder. She ran her fingers through Emerald’s hair as her back arched.

“Yes… keep going…” There was something about pleasing Cinder that made Emerald feel pure elation. She felt validated in a way. “Mm… you’re better at this than Mercury.” That was one compliment that made her the happiest. Knowing that she was superior to him at something. That made her want to give Cinder even more pleasure to further prove the compliment. “Have you done this before?”

“Maybe once or twice.”

“Hm. It certainly paid off.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

Someone knocked on the door. “Come in!”

Mercury was the one to open the door and he was surprised to see what was before him. “Is this a bad time?” he asked.

“Not like you’d actually care.”

“Good point.” He shut the door behind him as Emerald looked up. “Oh, Emerald. Fancy seeing you here.” Emerald glared at him as he kept his smug grin.

“What’s the status on our plan to get rid of Russel?”

“Everything is set. Just waiting for them to mobilize and then it’ll be on your orders.”

“Excellent. I suppose I should reward you for a job well done. And since dear Emerald here has already got me wet…”

Emerald’s eyes widened. “But, Cinder,” she whined.

“Shush now, darling. Let Mercury have a turn now. He has earned it and we still have time before we need to catch up with the weasel.” She looked up at the man and beckoned him with her finger. “Get over here and fuck me, Mercury.” She pushed Emerald to the side as Mercury approached and disrobed.

Emerald was left to the side to watch as Cinder kissed his abs, going all the way down to his crotch. Emerald pitifully watched as Cinder sucked off Mercury. She wanted to say something, but she couldn’t risk defying Cinder. Even as she watched Mercury pin Cinder to the bed and thrust into her. Even more disconcerting to Emerald is the fact that it seemed like Cinder was enthusiastically letting him do it.

Still, she couldn’t help but get hot and bothered while listening to Cinder’s moaning. She almost didn’t realize it when her right hand traveled down between and her left hand started fondling her breasts. She tried to relieve herself as she waited for Mercury to finish.

 

* * *

 

Raven sat at her desk as she discussed trafficking movements throughout and outside of Vale. It was an important meeting and she was incredibly irked when she was interrupted by one of her workers, Shay. He poked his head in the door. “Hey, Raven,” he said, “I got some old lady here who wants to talk to you.”

Raven grumbled and said, “Can’t you see that I’m busy right now, dipshit?”

He seemed nervous as he stuttered, “Uh… she’s rather insistent… and she really wants to meet you.”

“If I talk to this bitch, will you leave me alone?”

“Yes!”

“Ugh! Fine. Let her in.”  Shay slowly entered and revealed that he had a gun to his head. Now Raven knew why he was nervous. Soon, the elderly woman revealed herself as she held the man hostage.

As soon as the lady entered the room, she holstered her weapon with a small smile. “Thank you, Mr. Mann,” she noted. With that declaration, Shay rushed out of Raven’s office. She addressed the mob boss by saying, “I must admit that you could use some better henchmen. If they were working for me, such cowardice would not be tolerated.”

Raven glared at the white-haired woman but the elder remained unfazed. “Everyone else out. I’ll call you in when I’m done with her.” The others left in haste until the two women were the only ones left. “That was quite a ballsy move trying to barge your way in here.”

The elder woman’s smile widened. “You make it sound like I broke into your room. No, I simply told your man to relay the message and waited for your permission.”

“Coercing my worker into asking me and not taking ‘no’ for an answer? That’s **not** barging in?”

She chuckled. “Well, at least I’m more polite about not taking ‘no’ for an answer. And I’m sure your brother would agree.”

Raven was furious that this woman somehow knew about her relationship with Qrow. “How the hell did you know that?!”

“That’s not important. Would you happen to be in contact with the woman known as ‘Cinder’?”

“You don’t have any right to come to my place and –“

The older woman pulled out her gun once again and placed the barrel on Raven’s forehead. “Branwen, this will go rather quickly if you just cooperate. I’ll be out of your hair in no time.”

There was a certain smugness about this woman that Raven didn’t like one bit. She still didn’t have much choice but to comply, there’s no way she’d be able to draw her own gun quickly enough. She sighed and asked, “You’re not gonna bother me again?”

“I promise. I just have a small favor to ask you. Nothing that’ll be too much effort.”

“Fine. Get it over with.”

The woman placed her gun back. “Thank you. Now, as for my previous question, can you contact the woman known as ‘Cinder’?”

“I know the psychotic pyromaniac if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Perfect. Then, I have a message for you to send to her.”

“Why not send it to her yourself?”

“I don’t question why you rape your brother, so don’t question my methods.” At this point, Raven felt like this woman was trying to provoke her. “Just tell her these three words, ‘Salem is coming.’ That’s it.”

Raven raised an eyebrow. “Can you explain why?”

“Trust me. She’ll know what it means.”

She didn’t like the secrecy, but if it got the woman to leave faster, she didn’t care enough to press for answers. “I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that you’re Salem.”

“Quite perceptive, Branwen, but you needn’t tell her about this meeting. You won’t be able to find me. You just need to tell Cinder ‘Salem is coming,’ and nothing more.” Salem smirked as she turned on her heel to leave. “Pleasure doing business with you, Branwen.” As Salem left, Raven was only more perplexed than when Salem arrived.

 

* * *

 

Ruby was giddy about getting Russel into protective custody. She was still nervous about something bad potentially happening, but her excitement was at the forefront. It may have been the first potentially solid lead that they had in a long time. Ozpin was making sure everything went off without a hitch since he did not want Ironwood breathing down his neck again. Ruby sought to it that things actually went well for the operation.

The convoy started to move out down the designated path. All the while, Russel was waiting in an unmarked vehicle. He was nervous about what would happen to him since so many precautions were being taken.

As the convoy headed out, the choppers reported, “No sign of interference. Standing by.”

Ruby as standing by Russel’s vehicle as she waited for a perfect moment. She knocked on the window and signaled for them to roll down the back window to talk to Russel. “Nervous?” she asked. He only shrugged. “Don’t worry too much. We’ll be doing everything in our power to make sure you get to County safely.”

“And if you can’t?” He asked, fear present in his tone.

“Then go ahead and say hi to Dave and Sky for me.” The joke only made him tenser. “Hey, there’s no need to panic. Your boss will have no idea about where you are. He’ll be chasing the convoy if he even tries to go after you.”

“I hope you’re right.”

Ruby signaled to the driver that they were clear to go. They went on the alternate path to County. They didn’t encounter much traffic and there were still snipers looking out for every possible window they could find. They weren’t letting this guy get away. They went through a residential apartment complex where officers were checking in on every possible opening they could find. Ruby radioed the driver, “Lieutenant Scott, how’s it looking out there?”

Scott replied. “Looking good so far. Nothing to report.”

Ruby then contacted the snipers, “Vantage points clear?”

A sniper answered, “Still nothing to see. There are a couple of open windows, though. We’re keeping a close eye on them. It’ll be harder to do in the dark, though.”

“Just watch what you can. Make sure nothing is going to happen.”

“Copy that.”

Unfortunately, it wasn’t the open windows that they needed to be worried about. Suddenly, an RPG shot out from a shut window, shattering the glass and heading straight for the vehicle.  The snipers couldn’t react fast enough before the truck went up in flames. “Goddammit!” one shouted. He radioed Ruby. “RPG just hit the suspect’s vehicle!”

“What?!”

“We saw the window it came from! It was shut! We’re going in now!”

“I’ll send in back up! ETA: four minutes!” _Damn_ , she thought. Ruby gathered as many officers as she could and jumped in her own car with Ren. Police lights started to fill the darkened streets. Ren rushed to the crime scene as Ruby kept going on the radio. “Talk to me guys! What’s happening?!”

The sniper team had just entered the building as people were rushing to get out. “We’re looking for the shooter now, but it’s pretty crowded. They might’ve slipped out in the confusion.”

“Then look for clues at least!”

“Copy that, Sergeant.” The officers made it to the apartment in question and kicked open the door. They found nothing but a mostly empty apartment. One of them approached the RPG launcher and saw it still smoking. “We’re definitely in the right apartment. No sign of the shooter.” Upon further inspection of the device, he realized that there may be no shooter. “The device appears to be remote controlled.”

“Then make sure you get a trace on it. Anything else?”

The officer looked around and only saw one thing in the room. “I found a backpack in the room. Maybe it has some more clues in there.”

Ren finally arrived at the scene and Ruby was aghast when she saw the burning truck. Still, she pressed on to find the ones responsible. “Copy that. I’m about to enter with Officer Ren now.” Ren parked and the officers exited their vehicle… only to be greeted by the sight of the apartment being blown to bits right in front of them. Ruby was in shock at what just happened. Not but a few minutes after their plan went into effect, every possible thing to go wrong ultimately happened.

 

* * *

 

Cinder sat at her desk on a laptop connected to the apartment’s weapons. She made sure that Russel was taken care of personally and that no evidence was left behind. She smiles as she closed the laptop and smiled as Mercury stood behind her, watching the whole thing. “I’d say,” Cinder began, “that this was quite an eventful evening.”

“Agreed,” Mercury said. “I’ll be honest and say that it seems a bit excessive for this guy.”

“Is that an issue?”

“Hell no. Sometimes, you just gotta go for style points.”

Cinder chuckled at his response as she leaned back in her chair. “Your move, Rose.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **FUN FACTS:**  
>  * I think that I'll probably be spending the most time I've ever spent looking through a thesaurus just to write for that lunatic, Tyrian.  
> * No, Glynda isn't a G-cup because her name starts with G. If anything, it's a _Deadman Wonderland_ reference.  
>  * Like Cinder, "Salem" is a nickname. Again, that will be revealed with time. Additionally, she's in her sixties.  
> * Salem is left-handed. For some reason, I just imagined it that way.  
> * Qrow's threat was not an empty one. He and Raven have been involved in the murder of several people's loved ones to get them to cooperate.  
> * I spent quite a bit of time looking up symptoms of childhood sexual abuse for Qrow, and it was surprisingly difficult to find any that applied specifically to males. It's not impossible, but it was somewhat difficult to figure out. Hopefully, I'll be able to show off more of those symptoms in later chapters.  
> * Mercury's last line in this chapter is a _Red vs. Blue_. If you watch enough of the show, you'll probably recognize the episode it's from.
> 
> Finally, I wanted to point out a comment made by Yin on Chapter 2:  
> "Don’t get me wrong I like this fic a lot. It doesn’t really feel like a RWBY fic though. It kinda seems like you’ve changed it so much that if the names were different you wouldn’t even make a connection.
> 
> This is why I think you should just make it into a book of your own instead of just a fic."
> 
> I have noticed this and while I tried to do my best to maintain their canon characterizations when applying them to this setting, I do realize that it kinda feels like a story separate from _RWBY_ entirely. So yeah. It's an option just to make it my own story, but at this point, I'm still going on with the story.
> 
> Thanks for the comment, Yin, and if anyone else has something to say about the story, please leave a comment of your own. (I would've replied directly, but I doubted that it would be seen since it wasn't from an account.)


	10. Four Steps Forward, Seven Steps Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone deals with the fallout of the disaster that happened with Russel's transfer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back to _Vale's Underground_ , first ever fic featuring Vernal/Ilia on AO3! (Seriously, this is the only one here right now.)

Blake heard about the news quite quickly. And she knew that it would be an understatement to say that she'd be unhappy about it. It wasn't long until she saw that firsthand. Ruby stormed back into the precinct, absolutely furious. She kicked over a filing cabinet as soon as she made it back to the precinct. "SON OF A BITCH!" she shouted. "I don't believe it!"

Blake was concerned when she saw her wife's anger. She immediately went to Ruby to comfort her. "Ruby," she said as she tried to hold her hand, "calm down."

"That bitch ruined EVERYTHING! We know that it was her! Cinder was behind this!"

"Ruby!"

Ruby immediately picked up a mug on someone's desk and threw it at a wall. Sun walked in and was shocked when he saw it. "My mug!" he screamed as he went to pick up the pieces.

But Ruby ignored him as she slumped against the wall and tears started falling from her eyes. Blake sat next to Ruby as she buried her face in her hands and wiped her tears. "Ruby… I'm really sorry. I know this looks bad, but –"

"Twelve!" Ruby shouted. "Twelve good officers died tonight. Who knows how many more innocent people were caught up in the blast? It could be dozens!"

"We knew she'd try something."

"But this plan was supposed to stop that from happening! How could she have possibly found out about this?! Who told her?!" Blake wrapped her arm around Ruby as she cried. "How is this even possible?"

"I don't know… baby, I don't know. I really don't know what to tell you. But… there's no way it could be anyone else's doing. We can pin this on her."

"Well, good luck with that because she blew the damn apartment up! There's almost no evidence we could possibly get! And I bet she knows that, too!" Ruby looked away from Blake as more tears fell. "Every time we get close, things get ripped away. I just… I feel like a failure of a detective."

"You're not," Blake emphatically replied. "Ruby, you absolutely are not a failure."

"Then why can't I solve this goddamn case?!" Blake saw the despair in Ruby's eyes. "How many innocent people have died because of her? How many good cops have been murdered to keep her secrets under wraps? Twelve good cops have died tonight, and we have nothing!"

"RUBY!" Blake turned her wife's face to look her in the eye. "Listen to me. You are not a failure. So, what if one case isn't solved? Might I remind you of the over one hundred other cases you've solved? Remember the huge money laundering scheme committed by Ren's old boyfriend? Who solved it?"

"…I did."

"And when there was a serial burglar out on the loose? Who was the one who found the clue to help recover everyone's belongings?"

"I did."

"And remember one of the most illusive hitmen in Vale? Nobody else was able to get him into custody, but you did."

"But he still got poisoned before we could get anything out of him! All because he was connected to Cinder!"

"But you caught him! You got him into custody. You tracked him down within a couple weeks when it took everyone else months to find anything on him. You caught the guy." Blake held her closer. "If anything, the fact that she's trying so hard to stop you shows just how good a detective you are. Do you think she would've cared at all if you were just some random idiot cop that could be pushed around? Anyone else would've given up by now. Not you. The reason she's giving you trouble is that you're giving her trouble. She knows you can bust her and she's doing everything she can to prevent that. Because, like me, she knows just how amazing you are. And if she needs to cheat to make sure that she wins the game, then that means she's not a great player in the first place." Ruby had to admit that Blake was right. She did accomplish so much in her career. The "Cinder" case wasn't her only work. "You're Sergeant Rose. You are one of the best on the force. You are a fucking badass! You're anything but a failure." Blake kissed Ruby's forehead. "And I'm not just saying that because I'm your wife. I mean it."

Ruby couldn't help but give a small smile in return. "Thanks, Blake."

"I know this is a setback, but I also know that you'll be able to find another lead soon enough. I'd be willing to bet my life on it."

"Please don't. I'm sure Cinder knows where we are."

"That's part of the job." Blake let Ruby rest her head on her shoulder. "Don't worry. We can go home, and you can rest."

"I can't. I'm pretty sure Ozpin and Port will wanna have a word with me before I go."

"Well, then I guess I'll wait for you."

"You don't have to do that."

"I know, but I want to."

Ruby smiled as she wiped her tears. "What did I ever do to deserve you?"

"I should be asking you that."

 

* * *

 

Ozpin and Port were in the Commissioner's office. And Ozpin was even more enraged than Ruby was. "HOW! How is this possible?!" he shouted. "No one was supposed to know about this!"

"Believe me, Commissioner," Port replied. "I'm just as disappointed as you are. And I'm willing to take responsibility for it since it happened in my department."

"This is a disaster. And I can expect to hear a phone call from Jimmy any second now."

"You know he doesn't like being called that."

"And do you think I give a damn right now?!" Port was surprised by Ozpin snapping at him and Ozpin realized this as soon as he saw Port's reaction. He calmed himself down and sighed. "I'm sorry, Peter. I didn't mean to –"

"No, sir. I understand what you're going through. Your job is stressful enough as it is without incidents like this. I'd be snapping, too, if I had to deal with half the things you go through."

"You could've fooled me," he said with a chuckle. "You seem pretty calm about this."

"Calm, Victor. Not pleased. I'm still outraged that this operation was somehow exposed. I just know that putting energy into fueling that rage won't help. We need to use that energy for finding who is responsible."

"That means we'll have to deal with IA. Goddammit… This is a disaster." The phone started ringing and Ozpin didn't even need to look at the caller ID to know who it was. "Shit."

"I know that reaction. Do you need me to leave?"

"That won't be necessary, Peter." Ozpin was reluctant when he answered the phone. "Yes, James?"

"What! Happened?!" Ironwood shouted.

Ozpin sighed again. "I don't know. We tried to keep everything under as many wraps as possible, but there were many people in on the operation."

"Then you need to investigate every single one of them! I'm having Internal Affairs sent in immediately!"

"Yes, sir. I understand." Ozpin hung up and slammed his fist on the desk. "Every one of the officers is going to get investigated." Port's face fell. "We are in a terrible place right now."

"Everyone's getting investigated?" Port asked, and Ozpin nodded. "Even Rose?"

"Likely."

"You don't think –"

"Absolutely not! Sergeant Rose has been nothing but dedicated to stopping crime since day one. However, I doubt that will keep her from being investigated. I really wish it wasn't this way."

"I guess it'll be an uphill battle for now. I suppose I should be on my way. I'll be going back to the precinct to let them know I'll be leaving." Ozpin nodded. He probably should have gone home soon as well, but as Port left, Ozpin sat in his chair. He knew it was going to be a long night.

 

* * *

 

Taurus was in his chambers with Nia a few days after the incident with Cinder. He made sure not to be seen with her in any public places as much as possible. He was aggressively pushing his erection in her mouth. He tended to be rough with her and she didn't usually mind, but he seemed especially forceful today. She could barely breath when she felt him in her throat. He savagely grunted as he finished in her mouth, pulling at her brown hair so hard she felt like he would pull it from its roots. After that, he merely pushed her away as he tossed her clothes to her.

She massaged her throat as she watched him dress, completely disregarding her. "You seem a bit stressed today," she noted. "Something wrong, Adam?"

"I didn't ask for your opinion, Nia!" he barked back.

"I mean, you usually don't try to choke me with your dick, so I thought it was a bit weird."

"Shut the fuck up! You don't need to know. Just put on your clothes and get the hell out of here already."

She went along with it and pulled her clothes on. "Same time next week?"

"Whatever."

"Okay, now you're being more aloof than usual. I'm usually not the one doing all the talking."

"Just get out!" She saw the rage in his eyes and she knew that he wasn't in any mood to be bothered. She was only 4'9", so she couldn't take time to fight back.

So, she just left. As she went to the door, she asked, "Hey, can I get some more girls?"

"You want more?! What happened to the other ones?!"

Nia shrugged. "I don't like 'em anymore. I want some new ones."

"I…" He was about to yell at her, but he didn't want to deal with this right now. "Go tell one of the guys which ones you want, and I'll tell you which ones you can keep." Nia smiled before blowing Taurus a kiss. "I swear, you're gonna bleed me dry. I do have to sell some of those girls!"

"As long as you're not selling me, I'm good. Make sure they're tall. You know how I like them. Later." With that, she left, and Taurus kept putting his clothes on. He couldn't stand that he had to deal with Cinder's blackmail, and he didn't know how to deal with it. Not only that, but Nia kept taking his girls.

 

* * *

 

Cardin was sitting at his desk and his phone started vibrating. It was a blocked number, and he had a pretty good idea of who was on the other end. He looked around to make sure no one was watching him before answering. "Hello?" he said.

"Hey, it's Mercury," the man on the other end said. "Listen, I was told to tell you that you shouldn't be in contact with our mutual employer after this incident. And you definitely don't wanna be caught using their name."

"I know not to say stuff like that when we're being investigated. I'm not an idiot."

"I beg to differ." In response to his comment, Cardin grumbled. "Anyway, since you might get investigated along with your other colleagues, you better not try to talk to either of us until the coast is clear."

"Fine, but what about my payment?"

Mercury paused before smugly saying, "You have a good night, Officer," and hung up, further frustrating Cardin. He slammed his phone on the desk and groaned as he waited for the incident to blow over. He hoped it would be soon because he wanted his bonus pay.

 

* * *

 

Hazel walked back to his home. He hadn’t been with them in a while, so it was nice to see them again. He opened the front door of his house and immediately, his daughter came running up to his feet. "Daddy!" She screamed.

He picked her up and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Hey, Cassie."

"Where have you been?"

"Oh, I've been working." Cassie didn't know what her father did, and Hazel preferred to keep it that way. "You know you don't need to worry about that. How has your doctor appointments been going?" She currently had to work with dialysis until they could find a match, but she was getting even more restless about it every day. Torchwick was willing to pay it off, but he'd rather her not have to go through this.

"Still boring. Why do we have to do this?"

"To keep you alive, sweetie," they both heard as Hazel's wife, Lydia came up to kiss her husband. "Hello, darling."

"Hey, Lydia," he answered as he put Cassie down. "Glad to be back home."

"And I'm glad you're home, but you," she said while pointing at Cassie, "were supposed to be going to bed soon."

"Aw!" the girl whined. "Can't I stay up with dad for longer?"

"Cassie, you need to rest."

"Actually," he said, "I think she can stay up for at least a few more minutes. I have been out all day." Lydia smirked as she watched the nine-year-old celebrate getting more time to play with her father. "So, what do you wanna do, kiddo?"

"I wanna fly."

"Well, you should hold on." Hazel picked her up and lifted her over his head and she started flapping her arms like wings. She giggled as she was being "flown" through the house.

After the few minutes were up, Hazel decided to put her to bed himself. He placed her in bed and tucked her into bed. "There you go," he said.

"Daddy?" she asked. "Am I gonna get better?"

The question made him hesitant to answer. "Of course, you'll get better," he replied, trying to give her hope.

"But I heard the doctors saying that I might not have long." His mouth went in a flat line. "They're saying that things don't look good."

Hazel sat on the edge of her bed. "Look, Cassie, I… I know it seems bad, but I promise you that you will get better. Then, you'll never have to be on those appointments again."

Cassie smiled. "I would like to not do that. They won't even let me play games on it."

"Shouldn't you be reading books though?" He gave her a playful smile as he watched her get nervous. "Uh-huh." She ruffled her hair as she giggled.

"Okay, dad. I'll read more."

"Good girl. And don't worry. You'll get better." He kissed her on the forehead. "Goodnight, Cassie."

"Goodnight, dad." Hazel turned off her light and let the girl sleep as he quietly left the room. After that, his smile dropped, and he went outside to talk to Lydia. He sighed as he approached the woman washing dishes. "What have they been saying about Cassie?" Lydia looked back at Hazel. "The doctors. Cassie told me they were saying that it isn't looking good."

Lydia turned off the water and placed the dish back in the sink. She was hesitant to answer. He already knew there was no good news. "They said," she began, "that Cassie needs a transplant badly. She can't keep up the dialysis for long." Hazel's head lowered as he heard that. "Haven't you found a match yet?"

Lydia knew exactly what Hazel did. She knew he was involved in organ trafficking. And she knew his job was to kidnap innocent people to be killed. She liked it even less than he did, but they were desperate. "Nothing." Lydia's face contorted with distress. "Apparently they're having trouble even finding matches for the customers."

Her hand went over her mouth as she tried to hold back tears. She looked Hazel in the eye and asked. "How many people are dead because of what you do?" She never liked asking these questions and Hazel knew that. He knew that things were really taking a toll on her when she had to bring these things up. "I know we agreed that the ends justified the means, but the longer we can't find a match for her… the worse I feel about it. I mean, how many of those people have families, too? Children, husbands, and wives to go home to? Is finding a match for Cassie really worth all this?"

"You know… I have to be honest with you and say that I don't know. I think about these things every day. If you think it's bad being complicit, imagine having to be the one to carry the bodies." She didn't want to imagine it, but she saw his point. "I know that it's horrible, but we're already in too deep. We just need to help Cassie now."

"But what if we can't? What if you get arrested before that happens or if she…?" Her tears cut off her sentence. She didn't even want to finish that thought even in the context of a hypothetical. Mostly because it was dangerously close to being more than just a hypothetical. "There's just too much uncertainty and we're not much closer to a solution. I don't wanna keep going along with this and hiding it. If Cassie ever found out –"

"She won't. We won't let that happen." He walked closer to her with a somber expression on his face. "Listen to me, Lydia. We're going to help her. Once we do, I'll be out of this business for good. We can put all of this behind us and my boss will cover everything."

He embraced her as her head rested against his chest. "I really hope you're right, Hazel."

Hazel nodded and said, "So do I. But we have to be strong until then. For Cassie." Lydia nodded, and Hazel released her from his arms. "How about I finish the dishes? It's the least I can do."

"You don't have to do that."

"I know," he said with a warm smirk. He went to work scrubbing the dishes. "Don't worry. I'll take care of this." She smiled as she walked away. Though not without taking a moment to notice her husband's muscle-bound physique. She always liked that about him. And the fact that, in his heart, he was a decent man was even better. As he put it, "she came for the muscles and stayed for his heart." Even in this time of turmoil, she couldn't be happier to have him supporting the family. "I know you're staring at me, Lydia," he said seemingly out of nowhere, startling her.

"No, I wasn't." She could barely hold back her chuckling.

"Don't lie. You know I don't like being treated like a piece of meat." He looked back and showed her his smirk.

"Well, I can't help it. I did marry such a mountain of a man." He chuckled as she went back to their bedroom. With all that they had to deal with, they still enjoyed the small moments when they could smile. Sometimes, it was all they had on some days.

 

* * *

 

Weiss sat on the couch in her white silk robe while she waited for Glynda to arrive again. She got a call from Coco and she was really looking forward to talking to her. She answered the phone and said, "Hey, Coco."

"Baby!" Coco responded. "Oh, it's so lovely to be talking to you again. You should see the design I have for your dress. It is fucking lovely."

She chuckled nervously. "Funny enough, that's kinda related to what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh, let me guess. You're having second thoughts about the wedding again?"

"Actually… I'm thinking of finally coming out to him."

"What?! Wait, are you serious?"

"I am. I've been giving it a lot of thought and… I just can't lie to him like this anymore."

It took a moment before Weiss heard Coco's voice again. "Well, I'm actually kinda surprised by that. After all this time, I was really starting to think you'd never do it."

Weiss sighed. "Yeah. It's not exactly precedented in any way, but…"

"Were you spending some time with hookers over there?" Weiss hesitated to respond. "Yeah, that's all the confirmation I need." Weiss rolled her eyes. "Let me guess, you started feeling guilty about it."

"More or less. And I explained the situation to them. They told me –"

"They?! Holy shit!" Coco laughed as she said, "Weiss, you're an even bigger freak than I thought! Good on you! Were you holding out on me all this time?!"

"Are you done?"

"Sorry, sorry. Right. Back on topic. What did they say?"

"They said I needed to tell him. After that, I was laying in between them at night, still away, and I really gave it some thought. Going behind his back just didn't feel right anymore and I've been thinking about it ever since."

"And now you're gonna tell him?"

"I mean, I'm not literally going to tell him right now. I might need some help to know how to break it to him. I'm sure it'll be pretty tough."

"Well, if you do try before you call me back and you can't spit it out, I'll give you some tips to break the news to him."

"Thanks, Coco."

"No problem. By the way, if you do end up telling him, remember what I said."

Weiss smiled as she recalled Coco's comment. "Yes, I'll send him your way."

"Good. I gotta go. Call me back soon."

"I will. Later, Coco." She hung up just as soon as Glynda entered the apartment. "Morning, Glynda."

"Good morning, Miss Schnee," she replied as she pulled out her tablet to schedule Weiss' day. "I'm getting the whole day planned out for now. I've had to move some things around because the Mayor had to reschedule. So, we'll run down the list now."

"Wait, why did he have to reschedule?"

Glynda blinked as she looked at Weiss. "You haven't seen the news?" Glynda looked up the story and showed it to Weiss. Weiss saw the destroyed vehicle and apartment building and was horrified. "He has to go through with a press conference to take care of the fallout." Weiss grabbed the remote and flipped the channel to the news reporting on the incident.

 

* * *

 

Ironwood stood in front of the precinct with a hoard of reporters surrounding him for a press release. All of them were shouting questions and he had to keep things under control. Ozpin was by his side to help him if things got too rough. And Lisa Lavender was up first. "Excuse me," she shouted, "Mister Mayor! Lisa Lavender reporting for the VNN. Is there anything you can tell us about what transpired last night?"

"Right now," he replied, "we must keep any discussion about the incident to a minimum until the investigation is completed. What I can say is that the Vale police and fire department have done everything they can to mitigate the damage."

"But is that going to be enough? Some rumors going around suspect that there are dirty cops in your department and that the attack was carried out by an organized crime boss. Can you explain that, sir?" The reporters were in an uproar as soon as they heard her question.

Ironwood was prepared for such an inquiry. "That is all only speculation and if it is true, then I will do everything in my power to make sure that these individuals are found and brought to justice."

A male reporter spoke up and said, "But you seem more concerned with the Schnee business coming to Vale. Don't you think that this should be and should have been your top priority."

"Yes, I am trying to make this a safe place for Miss Schnee, but I will do that by eliminating corruption in this police force. I won't stand for it."

"Safe for Miss Schnee?" Lisa called out. "What about the very citizens that live here?" A lot of people shouted sentiments of agreement with the reporter. Ozpin could already tell that Ironwood was losing them.

"Listen here," he asserted, "I make my first, last, and only priority to make sure that the good people in this city are protected and safe."

"Bullshit!" a woman shouted from the back. The crowd looked towards the dark-skinned woman who was pushing her way through to the front. "Ironwood doesn't give a damn about us! He only cares about how good the city looks so he can show it off!"

Ironwood was familiar with this woman. Sienna Khan. She had interrupted rallies of his before sharing her dissatisfaction with how he prioritized things. He wasn't going to have her interrupt now. Not while Schnee was in town. "Now, hold on just a minute! You are in no position to be questioning my duty to this city."

"How many are dead? Tell me how many."

"We can't be revealing –"

"Answer the damn question! How many people died because of those bombs last night?"

Ironwood looked over at Ozpin and the commissioner began to answer. "Well, the count as of now is –"

"I DIDN'T ASK YOU!" she shouted before pointing at Ironwood. "I asked him! How many are dead, Mr. Mayor? Look me in the eye and tell me!"

He was caught off guard by Sienna's questioning. Ironwood tried to guess what the death toll was. "Uh… sixteen?"

"Thirty-seven!" That caused the crowd to murmur about the lack of response to the question. "Thirty! Seven! Deaths! Twelve of those were the lives of fellow officers! And they're not even done counting the bodies." She went up to the mic stand and grabbed one of the mics. "Citizens of Vale, this man is not the man you need looking over this city! He is no caretaker of the people! All of this is for political capital! You need someone who will attend to the needs of this city and everyone who lives here." Ozpin signaled to two cops while she was talking, and they took the hint to mean that they needed to take Sienna away from the stand. The immediately went in, but she shoved their hands away. "Get your hands off me," she spat. "I deserve the right to speak!"

"Ma'am," one officer said, "please step down or we will have you arrested."

"Just your way of stifling the truth." She addressed the crowd and said, "Don't let glory-hogging slimes like this man delude you! Vale deserves better!" As she was escorted away from the stage, Ozpin glanced at Ironwood.

The latter went back up to the podium. "Apologies for the interruption," Ironwood said. "Just know that the VPD is doing everything they can to apprehend the people behind this horrendous attack."

"Sir," Lisa said, "you couldn't recall the number of victims in the incident?"

"Uh… well, there were a lot of details from that night."

Another reporter shouted, "But wouldn't that be one of the first details you learned?"

"Look, I have many other responsibilities that I am also taking care of. Things will get mixed up at times."

"Other things like catering to some pop-star?"

Lisa shouted, "Mr. Mayor, explain what you truly feel about this tragedy."

Ironwood was quickly getting overwhelmed and Ozpin could tell what was happening. Ironwood's aide came to his side and ended the press conference. "Alright, folks," she said, "that will be all. The Mayor is a very busy man."

As his security tried to guide him away, the reporters still attempted to get to Ironwood. Ozpin stood in and decided to continue the press conference. "Ladies and gentlemen," he began, "If you have any questions about this incident, please direct them towards me. I'd be willing to answer anything that I can legally divulge. And you can know that I am doing everything I can to get to the bottom of this." Whenever Ironwood made a mess, he could usually salvage the situation. It almost made him an indispensable asset to him. Thought, he knew that the incident with Sienna would make things very difficult for James to bounce back from this.

 

* * *

 

Qrow sat on his couch as he tried to relax. He had considered drinking, but he wouldn't be productive for him since he was in the public eye so often. It didn't stop him from considering it, especially since she decided to stay with him all the time. He tried to focus on work and managing the bribes he handed out against the way legislators were voting, but it didn't help since she was trying to help Raven. Even worse, he knew that Raven was going to be back soon to stay with him. All because she thought he needed it.

And like clockwork, Raven entered his apartment wearing shades. He shook his head at her attempt at a disguise. "Could you look even more conspicuous?" he asked.

"Shut up," she replied as she shut the door and sat down next to him. He scooted away from her, but she predictably scooted closer to him. He grumbled when she did. "Get used to this. I'm sure girls will wanna do this a lot with you." He still violently shoved her away to grab something to drink. Just a glass of water.

"Do you have the money for this week, Rae?" She opened her bag and placed the money on the table. As he went to count it, she kissed him on the lips, causing him to push her away. "Stop it!"

Raven just scoffed and went back to the couch. "Did Calvin take the deal?"

"Of course, he did."

"Great work. My boys did a number on him and he still didn't take it."

"At least he's smart enough to not put his kids in danger."

"Have you been eating?" she asked out of nowhere. He groaned. It always annoyed him when she kept bothering him about how much he ate. "You always skip out on meals! I don't need you passing out when you're trying to talk to Ironwood."

"What, are you my nagging wife now?"

"Well, until you decide to get one, I guess I'm gonna have to fill the position."

"I hope you're aware of how fucked up that is."

"Hmph. At least I'm a woman."

Qrow pulled out his gun and pointed it at Raven. "How about I just kill you?"

Raven chuckled. "Qrow, I'd be better off killing you than you would after killing me." Qrow squinted. "Think about it. I kill you, I lose some political influence and just keep running the drug business. But you kill me? You're the one who needs to stay clean in public. How long do you think it's gonna take for people to figure out that you're taking over the drug trade?" He wasn't happy about it, but he realized she was right. "So, sure. You **could** kill me… but you'd only fuck yourself over. And by the way, if you're thinking of threatening to kill yourself to get me to leave you alone, it's not gonna work for the same reason. Besides, we both know you wouldn't go through with it." It was at that point that Qrow put the gun down, and Raven's smirk grew. "Good boy." She walked closer to him… and backhanded him. She didn't acknowledge it before continuing the conversation. "Now, for my former question, why haven't you been eating?"

Qrow sighed as he held his sore cheek. "I just… didn't feel like eating. That's all."

Raven went to the fridge and saw that it was barely stocked. "Then you better at least get some rest. And then you've gotta go get some stuff to eat. Seriously, what the hell is this?"

"Why would I buy a bunch of stuff I'm not gonna eat?" He reluctantly went to the bed just as soon as he was done counting the money. "I guess I'll need to go to bed."

"Maybe try to stay awake for a little bit. I'll try to make something from… the plethora of supplies to use. Then, I've gotta go."

"Uh-huh," he offhandedly said as he went to the bed. If he was honest, he only paid attention to the fact that she'd be leaving. He didn't even bother getting undressed when he flopped into his bed. He didn't want to stay there in the quiet since he'd have to keep thinking about the memories that he tried to forget. And unfortunately, it seemed like he was getting more when he got shoved on his back. "What the –" He was pinned down and Raven sat on his face.

"I'm giving you your meal. Now eat up. And you're not getting out of this until you make me cum." She struggled to hold his face down on the bed. "You really need to get better at this anyway. Get started."

He felt like a fool for thinking that she was done with him.

 

* * *

 

Sun and Blake walked up to the crime scene. They got the report very recently and were wondering what exactly happened. According to the first-responders, it wasn't pretty. They got in and saw the aftermath of the killer's handiwork. The bodies of the young married couple were dismembered and rearranged, making some sort of crude Frankenstein's monster effect.

"Holy shit," Sun said. "Well, I guess people are getting more creative."

"Indeed, they are," Blake replied. "I'm sure Penny would love this."

The walked closer to the scene and took some closer looks at the marked evidence as the photographers were taking pictures. "So, is there any sort of sicko on the books that would be responsible for this one?"

"None that I know of. This M.O. is new to me. I don't know what to make of it."

"I'm sure that there's some evidence we can find. Come on. Let's get to looking." As she started to look around for more evidence, she suddenly had a thought about a certain lunatic that they had let go recently. At that point, she was very concerned with what this could mean.

 

* * *

 

Cinder had one of her distributors tied up in a chair that was floating on a makeshift raft out on the dock. It was only holding on to the dock by a rope. He tried to take some of Cinder's money from the gun runs and now he was going to suffer for it. "Look," he said, "Cinder, it was a mistake in counting the money! I just had my math wrong." He listened to his excuses as she poured oil on him. As she watched him struggle, she pulled out her box of matches. "Please! Listen to me! I'm sorry! You don't have to do this!" He was right. She didn't have to do this, but she definitely wanted to do this. She started lighting matches and watching them burn up to the end. She did it to intimidate her victims and because she just liked watching the fire.

As the man gave his final pleas, she lit one last match and tossed it on his raft. She listened to his shrieks of horror as she watched the flames wreath him. Raven found Cinder on the dock and walked behind her. Cinder looked behind her and smiled. "Hello, Raven," she said. She looked back at the burning man. "You know, there's something beautiful about fire. The way it dances around what it consumes and how it transforms its victim into something completely different." Raven could only nod at Cinder's comments. "I think it was a French chemist who had coined the idea of conservation of mass and used the idea of burning something to display that. None of this man will truly be gone. Just transformed. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust."

"Reduced to cinders?" Raven replied.

"Not reduced. More like 'turned into' cinders. Though, I do appreciate the intent behind your comment."

"Well, I hate to interrupt your waxing philosophical about your pyromania, but I was told to give you a message."

"And that is…"

Raven sighed. "Salem is coming." Cinder's expression of smug satisfaction changed to one of immediate shock. "I was told you'd know what it means because I sure as hell don't. That's all I had to say for now. Enjoy your bonfire." As Raven left, Cinder stood there motionlessly. The message was not one she welcomed happily. In fact, it infuriated her. So much so that she crushed the matchbox and remaining matches in her hand.

 

* * *

 

Stella walked down the streets at night like she always did. She was on the phone with her mother talking about how she needed to get a husband. Stella ended up angrily hanging up just to avoid it. However, she already felt unsafe as if someone was following her. She didn't know why, but this feeling didn't go away. She looked over her shoulder so often that she almost didn't feel like she was looking forward anymore. But this didn't help.

Tyrian jumped behind her and placed her hand over her mouth as he dragged her into the dark alley. He was careful to make sure that no one saw him. When he was sure he was safe, he took out his knife and sliced open her throat. He resisted the urge to giggle to keep from getting caught, but that didn't stop his manic grin. "Are you done?" Hazel asked, waiting in the corner. He stepped out of the dark as Tyrian dropped the body.

Hazel already had on a raincoat to protect himself from the blood. As he picked her up, Tyrian shrugged and said, "In line with Mr. Torchwick's bidding, it seems that I am through with this carcass. Did you remember to have the truck prepared for rendezvous?"

"You don't need to be asking me about how prepared I am, Callows." Sure enough, their truck wasn't too far away. As Tyrian opened the back of the refrigeration truck, Hazel placed the body in with the seven they collected just tonight.

"I must say, his assertion that the body count would be enough was no fabrication."

"Just make sure to clean up the blood." Tyrian's smile disappeared. "You agreed to do the cleaning.

"Yes, yes. I recall." He grabbed the bottle of bleach to clean the blood. "The prices that I must pay for a smidge of enjoyment."

If Hazel was being honest, he wasn't enjoying this job either, but he had no chance but to go along with it until Cassie was better. He wanted to see that beautiful smile for as long as he could.

 

* * *

 

Ruby and Blake walked into the precinct in the morning. Ruby was holding a box as the wives both went to Blake's desk. Sun was already sitting there, and Ruby placed the box down on his desk. Sun looked up at Ruby, a little confused about the gesture. She waited for him to open it and he pulled out a mug identical to the one she broke. "I thought you might need one," she said.

Sun smirked. "You didn't have to do that," he replied. "I was just gonna get another one later."

"Well, it's the least I could do."

He chuckled. "Thanks." Ruby nodded as she went to her own desk. "She really felt bad about that mug, didn't she?"

Blake explained, "I think she just wants to be nice. She's been through a lot and I guess she just wants to try and make up for it."

Ruby went to her desk and saw Ren and Penny already hard at work. Penny was the first to see her approach. "Sergeant Rose," she said.

"Hey, Penny," Ruby replied. "Hey, Ren. What's up here?"

Ren explained, "We're looking into a lead for a new case while the others take care of the mess over at the apartment. Hopefully, I.A. won't be getting in our way while we get this done."

"We shouldn’t have anything to worry about since we're not corrupt," Penny noted.

"It's still a pain in the ass regardless. Trust me."

"Alright. I could use a new case to work on." She needed the case to get back on her feet after what happened. She was Ruby Rose. And she was determined to remind herself of that. By the time she got a lead on Cinder, she wouldn't be escaping her grasp this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **FUN FACTS:**  
>  * Nia likes tall women because of a sort of subtle Napoleon-complex. She also has heterochromia. One eye is blue and one is brown.  
> * "Cassie" is short for "Cassandra."  
> * Lydia like big, beefy guys. It's kind of her thing.  
> * And yes, she's fully aware of what Hazel does. She knew from the beginning because Hazel didn't want to lie to her about it. She reluctantly agreed because she wanted to help save Cassie.  
> * For those wondering, VNN isn't a reference to CNN. The network is literally called "Vale News Network" in canon.  
> * Sienna is a political activist who has interrupted several political events before. Much better than being a terrorist. ~~(Come to think of it, it would've been a good idea to make the White Fang a criminal organization in this universe. *facepalm*)~~  
>  * Not relevant, but I thought it was important to say. "Frankenstein" is the scientist and the creator. Not the monster. If you're referring to the monster, just say "Frankenstein's monster". Just a pet peeve of mine.  
> * The chemist Cinder is referring to is Antoine Lavoisier. ~~Shout out to the fellow nerds who already knew that without having to be told.~~  
>  * I would've included more about the internal affairs investigation, but I really didn't have the desire to and I already had most of the chapter finished otherwise. Maybe I'll get some more in later.
> 
> That's all for now. I noticed the stunning lack of comments on the last chapter. I was almost certain that more people would have some stuff to say about it. So, I'll just remind you that comments are welcome and encouraged. Please let me know what you think even if you hated it. I always appreciate getting a comment on my work.


	11. In Need of a New Game Plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have had to change so much around while writing this chapter. This isn't exactly how I had this chapter planned out, but the creative process takes you to some interesting places. You just have to roll with it. It might set things back since I do need to put things on track somehow. (Kinda feel like the title has a double-meaning in that way since it's not just related to what the characters are doing.)

Hazel drove the refrigerated truck into Torchwick's hideout where Torchwick and Watts were waiting. Torchwick leaned on his cane as Hazel and Tyrian opened the back of the truck. Torchwick smirked. "Quite the bounty," he said. "You think that this'll be enough to find matches for customers?"

Watts looked inside and said, "It's a start."

Tyrian giggled and said, "I could always scavenge some more!" His grin disappeared when Hazel placed his massive hand on Tyrian's shoulder. The lunatic already cowered in fear.

"I appreciate the enthusiasm," Torchwick said, "but you don't wanna draw too much suspicion at the mass disappearance of so many people."

"What about a match for Cassie?" Hazel asked.

"I shall see," Watts replied. "Like I said, she's top priority." He glared at Torchwick. "And I better be getting paid extra for this." Torchwick sighed as he walked away. More workers came to cart away the bodies. "Please do be careful with them. If any of them gets damaged, it'll be coming out of your paycheck."

Hazel watched as they carted the bodies away. Still hoping that he could find a way to save his daughter.

 

* * *

 

Cinder was down at the gun range where she had several of her workers standing down range with apples on their heads. She didn’t feel bad about losing them because they weren’t her best anyways. However, she wasn’t in the greatest mood right now. The news that Salem had returned was one of the worst things she could have learned, and she planned to take out on her least useful staff. She spent almost half an hour shooting apples off their heads, each one getting more terrified when she made a hit. She didn’t tend to miss the shots, but she intended to get dangerously close to see the fear in their eyes.

Mercury wondered where she was and already checked everywhere else she could be. This was the last place to check. Thankfully, she found her here. But when he saw the men downrange, he knew she wasn’t in the best of moods and that he’d have to be careful. Mercury walked down to Cinder as she reloaded her pistol. "I see you're getting some target practice in." Cinder didn't respond as she kept shooting. "Did something happen?" One man got scared and tried to escape. It was no use when Cinder shot him several times for good measure. Mercury noticed the look of pure rage on her face. Not the look of smug superiority that she usually has when she hurts people. Now, he was concerned. "Uh… Cinder." After that, Cinder pulled out a case and opened it. The case contained an enormous revolver. One that Mercury recognized. A Smith and Wesson 500. He knew that those men were in for a very bad time. "Holy shit. You never bring that out unless you really wanna scare somebody." Cinder opened the chamber and loaded a single bullet inside. "Are you sure you're feeling –"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP, MERCURY!" she shouted. She turned back at him with pure fury in her eyes. He backed off since he didn't want her pointing that gun at him. She closed the chamber, cocked it, and aimed it at the man in the center of the room. Mercury knew exactly what was coming. As soon as she pulled the trigger, the man's head exploded into a mess of brains and skull fragments, causing several of the others to start panicking and screaming. As the headless body dropped to the ground, bits of gore splattered on the two men next to him. She took another bullet and placed it in the gun. Mercury knew that something was different about her since she didn’t even smile when she killed the man. She spun the chamber and flicked the gun to load it. She aimed it at another man and pulled the trigger. Click. She opened the chamber again and spun it before flicking it closed. She aimed once again, and the man shut his eyes. Click. She repeated the process again and went down the line. Eventually, she pulled the trigger and left a crater where the man's face was.

Another man tried to run. "Man, fuck this shit!" he yelled. Mercury didn’t hesitate to pull his gun out and shoot him in the chest.

They left him on the ground to choke on his own blood. "I could have done that myself."

"I know you could," Mercury replied, "but I'm just trying to help out." He moved her Glock closer to her to make sure she wouldn't have to put in much effort into switching between guns when necessary. "If you need me, I'll be getting laid. Unless you wanna help with that, just give me a message if you need me."

"Wait," she barked. Mercury stopped where he was. "I need you to find someone."

"Who?"

Cinder sighed. "She goes by the name 'Salem.' White hair, red eyes, pale skin, in her sixties, almost as tall as you."

"You want me to kill her?"

"I want you to **watch** her. Find her and report back to me on her whereabouts."

"Where do I even start?"

"Figure it out! Stay up all night if you have to! Just get it done!" Mercury didn't feel like getting his head decimated by her hand cannon, he left and allowed her to continue her game of Russian roulette with the unfortunate men to work out whatever issues she had.

 

* * *

 

Ruby was sitting the office of the Internal Affairs officer, Ciel Solei. She was usually the most neutral individual on the force but obviously cared about the law being followed to the letter. And the fact that Ruby found herself in this office because of the Thrush-incident annoyed her to no end. Endless question after question about where she was before the incident and anyone she talked to beforehand. "Look," Ruby said, "for the umpteenth time, I'm telling you that I have no connection to the mob at all. I'm not corrupt, and I didn't leak the information to any civilians. No matter how many times you tell me, that's going to be my answer."

Ciel replied, "There's no need for hostility. I'm only asking you these questions because you were the one most closely associated with this operation. If anyone could leak it, it would be you."

"I didn't even tell my wife about this," she said, frustration present in her voice, "who happens to be a homicide detective! She only found out about this when it happened. If anyone leaked it, it was someone overhearing it."

"Well, you do have some issues with this case."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Misconduct has been present in your police work as of late. Such as the incident with Lark's shooting."

She couldn't believe that Ciel was bringing this up. "He was firing around a crowd of innocent people just to get to me! I'd say that's a justified use of excessive force!"

"As you announced to him during your gunfight in a show of hubris." Ruby's mouth was agape. "Some witnesses on the scene mentioned it."

"That shouldn't be a factor. I didn't want to shoot him! Look, I do everything I can to uphold and enforce the law. I'm not some cowboy cop who takes the law into her own hands."

"Then I guess the incident with Officer Winchester was also a justified use of excessive force." Ruby was speechless. She didn't think anyone would mention it. Even if he did, she was certain no one would take it seriously with how many sexual harassment complaints that were leveled against him. "The precinct has cameras, Sergeant." Ruby mentally kicked herself for not thinking of that. "Honestly, if it were up to me, I wouldn't have you punished for this since I have also been harassed by Winchester, and I assume that's what this was about."

Ruby nodded. "Us girls gotta stick together, right? Maybe you could put in a good word for the Chief?"

"Don't mistake my intentions in saying that. If I caught you doing it a second time, I would have to have you reported for it."

"Dammit."

"Listen, with the incidents you've had, there's some justification to be concerned about your behavior."

Ruby took a deep breath with an expression of fury on her face. "Look," she said quietly, "I have been working on this case for years. Every time we get close to a lead, she takes it away. Imagine how frustrating that is for me. I want her to be taken in more than anyone. Do you really think that I would be going out of my way to sabotage this investigation?"

Ciel wrote down some notes after this comment. "Very well." Ruby sighed. "Don't see me as the enemy. I only want to ensure that policing is done to the highest standard. I'm on your side."

"It doesn't really feel like it."

"Well, I'm sure you'd think the same of your parents if they punished you for doing wrong. I don't intend to get in the way of your job. If done correctly, things go well."

"Yeah, yeah. I get it."

After a few more minutes of questioning, Ruby was released and walked back to her desk. She saw Ren and Penny working nearby. They looked up as soon as they saw her. "How did it go?" Penny asked.

"Good news, I'm not a suspect in the investigation. Bad news, I got desk duty from Port after pulling a gun on Cardin."

Ren sighed, but Penny just shook her head. "I told you. Brandishing your weapon in the precinct without necessity rather unbecoming conduct."

"I already feel like shit, Penny. I'm surprised they didn't get you in trouble for assaulting him."

"Just goes to show you that you should have used a non-lethal method."

Ruby sat at her desk. "Point is, I'm stuck here."

"Well," Ren said, "I guess that'll give you some time to think at least. Well, pick up the slack for you."

Ruby smiled. "Thanks."

Blake suddenly walked up and handed Penny some photos. "Here you go," she replied.

Penny perked up immediately. "Yes! These will be excellent to add to my collection."

"Let me guess," Ruby said, "those are crime scene photos."

Blake nodded and replied, "Some rather fucked-up ones, too."

"Any Cinder-stuff?"

Blake shook her head. "Sorry, babe." Ruby hung her head down, disappointed. "What's gotten into you? I thought you were bouncing back from the incident."

Ren explained, "Port gave her desk-duty for the next few days."

"Oh." Ruby's head slammed down on her desk as she groaned with frustration. "Well, why don't we do something special tonight. Okay?"

"I guess," Ruby replied.

Blake kissed her on the cheek. "Don't worry. I'm sure I'll cheer you up. But right now, I need to talk to Sun and Dr. Oobleck. I'll see you later." Ruby gave an offhanded thumbs-up.

Penny picked up some papers and said, "We should probably be on our way as well. We have some leads to follow."

"Cool," Ruby dully replied.

"Don't worry," Ren said. "We'll find something."

As they left, her phone started ringing and saw it was from her mother, Summer Rose. It had been a while since she talked to her. She answered the call. "Hello?"

"Hey, Ruby honey," Summer said. "How have you been?"

"I've been fine, Mom. Just been busy with work and such."

"Super-cop Sergeant Rose catching the bad guys?" Ruby chuckled. "I did hear about the explosions though. I'm sorry about that."

"It's not your fault. We're gonna move on with this. I'll help to find something to get Cinder."

"Well, I guess I should let you go for now since you're probably pretty busy at the moment." _I wish_ , she thought. "I just wanted to say hi."

"Thanks. How are you?"

"I'm doing quite fine, but I wouldn't want to bore you with my life."

"Are you kidding? You did a lot of cool shit, Miss Former Olympian."

"Oh, stop. That was in the past. I'm just living the simple life now."

"Well, I still wanna hear what you've been up to. I'll call you back later."

"Thanks, sweetie."

 

* * *

 

Pyrrha walked up to the coffee shop to grab the drinks for the day. It was her turn for the coffee run and she was just hoping to get things done and get out. After buying the drinks, she noticed something. A certain blond boy on his laptop. She had to walk closer to see if it was really him. Sure enough, it was Jaune in the exact same laptop. "Jaune?" she said.

He was startled immediately and looked up from his computer. "Oh," he exclaimed, "Pyrrha! What are you doing here?"

"I was getting coffee for me and my roommate."

"Oh." He smiled and tried to stay calm. "Cool."

She didn't know why he was still so nervous. They had been in the most intimate of situations that anyone can imagine, but she still found it charming how he still got flustered even around a girl he's had sex with several times. "Are you waiting for someone?"

"Uh… no actually. I don't have any classes for the day, but… I was going to see you, but I don't have enough money. I blew it all on Weiss Schnee tickets."

She chuckled to herself when he mentioned the concert. However, she found it almost ironic that he would've dreamed of even kissing Weiss, and she already had spent an entire night in a threesome with her and Yang. "Well, I guess you got your chance." She shrugged.

Jaune looked down at his hands and twiddled his thumbs. "Yeah… I guess so…"

Pyrrha suddenly saw an opportunity. "Hey, do you want to spend the day with me?"

"What?! I just said I don't have any money."

"I didn't mean for sex. I just meant…" She had to stop herself from calling it a date. "…hanging out. That's all. I can take you to my apartment."

Jaune was confused by the offer. "Are you sure about that? I mean, you really want to take some random guy to where you live?"

"Not a random guy. I'm taking you." She flashed a smile and said, "I trust you."

He mulled over it for a moment. Being invited over to a girl's house wasn't something he expected anytime soon. However, it couldn't be that bad, and he had nowhere else to go. He closed his laptop and placed it back in his bag. "Okay. I guess it couldn't hurt."

Pyrrha had to contain her excitement about this, but she still managed to keep her cool. She walked out with Jaune as she called Yang to let her know that she was going to be bringing a friend to the apartment.

As the couple left, Salem entered the shop and Mercury wasn't too far behind. It took him a while to find the woman, but after enough asking around, he was able to figure out where she was going to be. He kept his distance to about half a block away from her. As soon as he saw her go into the shop, he knew there was no way that he could just wait outside without looking more suspicious.

Mercury entered soon after her and got in line to get his coffee to help blend in. It was a rather long line, so it wasn't going to look too suspicious for him to be observing his surroundings. He'd just look bored while waiting to be served. He took a quick scope of the shop and made sure to keep an eye on his back as much as he could, but he noticed that Salem sat in the corner. A perfect place to keep an eye on the entire shop and scope out potential threats. He knew that he was dealing with someone who's used to watching her back all the time. _Well, this makes things a bit harder_ , he thought. He kept his eyes on her as much as possible while waiting in the line, but as soon as he got close to the cashier, he noticed a young twenty-something girl walking to Salem's table. It seemed like she was expecting the girl. _Maybe she's her daughter._ That idea was instantly shattered when he saw them engaging in a deep but quick kiss on the lips. _Okay, scratch that._ He couldn't listen to what they were saying because, by the time they started talking, he had to order something.

"Hello," the barista said, "how may I help you."

He answered, "I'll just take a regular coffee. Two sugars, dash or cream." He took another glance at Salem and the girl. _Still there._

"Anything else, sir?"

"Uh, maybe I could get your phone number." He flashed a smirk and a wink.

She chuckled nervously. "I'll take that as a no." _Ah, well. You can't win 'em all. Besides, my job isn't to pick up hot chicks._ "And your name?"

"Matthew."

"Alright, that'll be $2.74." He pulled out his cash, took the change, and sat close to Salem's table to wait for his fake name to be called. _Alright. Just don't leave._ He got concerned when he saw the girl standing up. However, Salem stayed as the girl walked to the bathroom. _Okay, good._ "Matthew!" That was his cue to take the coffee. "Here you go." The barista handed him the coffee. However, he noticed that there was a piece of paper in the cardboard. A paper with a phone number on it. He looked up and saw the barista winking at him. _Well, I guess this isn't a total waste._

And thankfully for him, Salem didn't go anywhere for a while. When she took her mistress out, he wasn't too far behind.

 

* * *

 

Jaune sat on the couch as he waited for Pyrrha to return with a bagel. The ones in the shop were too expensive, so she decided to offer him some. Yang was skeptical about bringing Jaune over, especially with what she said about getting close to her clients, but she wasn't going to argue with her. She sat next to him as he looked understandably nervous being there. "Here you go," she said as he handed him the plate.

He bashfully accepted it. "Thanks," he replied.

"It’s a good thing my roommate decided to go to work earlier today." _Especially since I told her to stay out of the apartment._ Yang repeatedly called it a date, but Pyrrha refused to confess it was such even though that's what she considered it to be.

"What does she do?"

"She's also a sex worker. She's actually the one who convinced me to get into this line of work."

"Oh." He noticed something off about her tone of voice. "Do you… not want that job?"

Pyrrha sighed and shrugged. "I mean… it helps pay bills. It's not exactly something I'm ashamed of, but she seems more willing to do it than I am. Don't get the wrong idea though. I don't regret it at all." _Especially because it helped me meet you._ "So, you're in college, right?" What are you studying, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Oh, uh… well… I'm working on pre-med."

"You want to be a doctor?"

"Yeah. Kinda…"

"What? That's a wonderful thing."

"It's just that…" He sighed and said, "I don't know. I just feel like I'm being pushed into this."

"What do you mean? Are your parent's making you do this?"

"Something like that. My family kinda has a reputation. My dad is a brain surgeon, my mom is a cardiologist, and all my sisters went into nursing school. At this point, if I don't get into med-school, my folks aren't gonna like it. And honestly, I'd rather not be the odd one out."

She looked at her lap. "Yeah, I can understand that." Jaune nodded. "Do… you want to talk about it?"

Jaune scratched the back of his neck nervously. "I feel like such a pushover sometimes. I mean, my parents push me into being a doctor, my friends pushed me into going to see you. It's like I don't get any choices for myself. I just wanna do something because it's what I want to do and not because someone pushed me to do it."

"Why not be more assertive? I know you could."

"That's the problem. When I try to be confident, I just get more nervous. I can't pull it off. In the end, I'm nothing but a loser."

Pyrrha put her arm around his back. She hated to see him beating himself up like this. "You're not a loser, Jaune."

"Yeah right. I can't even have sex with a girl without cumming in three seconds."

"I mean, we have gotten up to a record of two minutes. That's something to be proud of."

"You don't have to do that."

"Do what?"

Jaune shot out of his seat. "Trying to cheer me up like that. You know it's not impressive. Be honest, how many times have you actually had an orgasm with me?" She lowered her head and looked away. There was no way she could lie to him. It's not like having orgasms mattered to her. She liked Jaune either way, but he was right. "That's what I thought," he said as he sat back down. "I know I'm a loser. It's not like you need to sugarcoat it."

Suddenly, Pyrrha got an idea. "Jaune… do you want me to… teach you some things?" He looked up with intrigue. "Like how to pleasure a girl or just how to last longer."

"Why do that?"

"Look, you may not believe in yourself, but I believe in you. And I want to help you. Give me a minute to find something." She went into Yang's room and found the bottle of lube she usually saved for her own personal use. _Hopefully, Yang doesn't mind me taking some._ She went back to Jaune and he saw what she had. "The best learning comes through experience."

"Wait, I don't have a way to pay you."

"You don't have to pay for this." Jaune's eyes widened. "I'm doing this for free."

"Are you serious?" Pyrrha nodded. "But… but how will I… pay you back or –"

"You don't have to pay me back." She started pulling down her pants. "That's what 'free' means."

"I know, but… it seems too good to be true."

"We are friends, aren't we?"

He shrugged. "Yeah…"

"Well," she replied as she unbuckled his pants, "as a friend, I want to help you. Just think of it that way."

Jaune smiled and blushed. She loved seeing that he was happier about this. "I don't even have any condoms on me."

"You won't need them."

"But, what if I get you pregnant?"

"Yang made me get an IUD. She said it was useful just in case someone actually managed to mess with the condoms. And don't worry about STI's either. I'm clean."

"And you just trust that I am, too?"

"Of course, I trust you. I know you well enough. Now, get yourself hard and take a seat." He did as he was told and watched as Pyrrha lubricated herself. "Now, let's see how long you can last without a condom." She thought it would be a good foot in the door to help her admit her feelings. There was a chance it might not work, but it was a start. That's all she needed.

 

* * *

 

Sun and Blake spent some time with Dr. Oobleck again after the appearance of some newer bodies similar to the couple that they found. "Oh, dear," he exclaimed. "It seems that our nefarious culprit has quite a predilection towards carving up his victims. Rather messy cuts though. All of these are rough cuts, so it couldn't be someone who is rather strong. Either they were using an improvised hacksaw, or they've been watching too many movies and thought he could dismember someone with a knife."

"Well," Blake said, "I think I might have an idea of who is behind these murders. Someone who was recently released."

"Mr. Callows? This doesn't fit the established M.O. at all. Besides, why would he violate the terms of his release? I fear that this might be someone quite unique in the criminal element. Not even the notorious Cinder could be behind this one."

"Think about it. He got released because a lawyer who was sent by an associate of his came to get him out. And he didn't seem very keen on mentioning who that associate was."

"Hm…" Oobleck adjusted his glasses. "That does seem rather suspicious."

"Plus, the past of criminal insanity seems all too convenient. And I recently got news that he hasn't been seen in the facility he was kept in for the last few days. I'm guessing someone on the inside was able to cover it up."

Sun asked, "You think he's back to his old tricks?"

"I'm saying that it wouldn't be unwise to keep an eye out for Mr. Callows."

"Very well," Oobleck said. "I shall inform you if I find any possible connections to Mr. Callows as soon as possible."

"Thanks. Come on, Sun. We've probably gotta look around and see if we can find him."

 

* * *

 

Sienna was busy with trying to rally up support for her protests. She had a megaphone and was announcing her grievances against the Mayor.

After she completed her speech, she packed up her things and prepared to move on to the next spot she planned to protest. "That was rather inspiring," she heard. The voice sounded familiar, but it couldn't be the person she thought it was. When she turned around, she found out she was right. It was none other than Weiss Schnee. "You know, I think you have a real future in politics."

Sienna sneered and said, "Well, I don't think I need political pointers from a pop-star."

"Well, I am also a businesswoman. Many people tend to forget that."

"What do you want? Shouldn't you be letting that worm Ironwood kiss your ass a little more?"

"Actually, I'm postponing my planning on postponing my business with him indefinitely." Sienna gave a quizzical expression. "Tell me, have you ever considered running for mayor?"

Sienna shrugged. "It's not like I have a wide reach in the world of politics. I have a decent following on the streets and some on social media, but I'm not exactly Miss Moneybags like you. There's no way I'd be able to fund a campaign. And I won't get any support from any major parties."

"Well, then I think it's a good thing that this 'Miss Moneybags' is willing to fund your campaign."

"What?!"

Weiss nodded. "I'm willing to give you all the funding you could possibly need to get your name out there. I think that you have a shot at this."

Sienna was incredibly skeptical of this sudden proposition. "What's the catch, Schnee? You want me to push some agenda of yours? I'm not interested in being backed by lobbyists."

"No catch whatsoever. I promise. You can campaign however you see fit. You'll manage your own policies and work on how you want to market yourself, including finding appropriate campaign managers of your choice."

"Are you serious?"

"Absolutely. All I am to your campaign is your funding. I'll have absolutely no influence over it otherwise. Just tell me what you need, and I'll pay it off."

"I… I don't know what to say. Why would you wanna help me?"

"I told you. I think you have a real shot at this. I think people should hear what you have to say. And who better to represent the city than someone who lives in it?" Sienna was speechless. "So, what do you say?"

Sienna was still skeptical about this deal, but it was too good an opportunity to waste. "Alright, Schnee. I'll take you up on this offer. Although, it might be a bit difficult to get it off the ground. Do you have a plan on how to get my name out there?"

"Well, you already made quite an impression with that stunt at the Mayor's announcement after the bombing. I'm guessing that the interview with Lisa Lavender that I had set up for tonight will really get things going."

"Tonight?!"

"We're going to take care of the official campaign preparations and get you on the ballot. After that, we can get you something to wear for the appearance." It all still seemed too good to be true in Sienna's eyes, even as Weiss was taking her into her limo, but she didn't have much to lose with this.

 

* * *

 

Cinder spent some time eating out Emerald because the assistant thought it would be helpful. Altogether, it wasn't doing much. Having control over the girl was enough for her, but she knew it wouldn't last for long. She needed to hurt someone to take the edge off. Emerald came for the third time Cinder waited for her to come down from her high and went up to kiss her. "Was it good for you, Emerald?" she asked. Emerald nodded. "Good. Now, how about you do the same for me." Emerald nodded, but Cinder saying that seemed to unsettle Cinder. Her consort was too enamored to notice it, which was a big mistake.

Emerald asked, "Can you do me again?" Cinder glared at her. "It's just that…" before she could finish her sentence, Cinder just laid on her back and beckoned her over. Emerald squatted over Cinder's face and leaned forward to put her own head between her boss' legs. She pulled Cinder's feet closer to feel them, but she didn't notice Cinder's legs wrapped around her neck and started choking her. "Cinder," Emerald screamed, "What are you doing?!" That's when she felt her throat being closed off as Cinder crushed her neck. She flipped them over and spun around to see her face. She squeezed tighter as she watched Emerald's face growing redder as she tried to breathe. Emerald was terrified as she pleaded with her eyes. Her attempts to speak were useless. She was fading fast and Cinder didn't show any signs of wanting to stop. Even prying her legs away wasn't helping much. She didn't want to die like this and she naïvely never expected Cinder to suddenly turn on her like this.

She was thankfully interrupted by a phone call. Cinder released her, and air rushed into Emerald's lungs, consuming much-needed oxygen. Cinder saw the call was from Mercury and she angrily answered the call. "What is it?"

"Well, I've luckily been able to follow her," he answered. Emerald watched while she contemplated what got into Cinder.

"And?"

"She's just been hanging out with some girl all day. I'm guessing she's some sort of mistress."

Cinder grumbled at the observation. "How do you know?"

"Well, watching her get head in an alley kinda tipped me off to that conclusion."

"Typical…"

Mercury was already confused by what she wanted with Salem, but now, his skepticism was growing. "Seriously, what is the deal with you and this lady?"

"None of your business," she retorted. "Just do what I say and keep an eye on her."

"Why? She's not even doing any-"

"Just do it because I told you to do it! You don't need to know! Just shut the fuck up about it and do what I say."

"Fine."

She hung up and looked at Emerald. "What?" Emerald looked away from her. "That's what I thought." Cinder ignored her and started dressing again, further confusing Emerald.

 

* * *

 

Pyrrha was under a businessman who was roughly thrusting into her. She tried faking her enjoyment of it. Unlike Yang, she didn't have as much luck finding ways to come. "Oh, year," he groaned. "You like that?"

"I love it," she moaned, faking enjoyment. She was really just waiting for when it would end.

Suddenly, he got a phone call and stopped to answer it. "Hello?" She sat up as she waited for him to finish the call. "What?! I thought it was your turn to pick up the kids!" Pyrrha never liked the idea that many of them were just cheating on their significant others. If she was being honest, she still had a problem with it when Weiss was doing it. "Fine! Fine. I'm in the middle of a meeting. I'll be on my way soon." He hung up and frantically started redressing himself. "Sorry, I'm going to have to leave for now."

"As long as you're not taking the money with you."

"I still have fifteen minutes left."

"Well, you can have fifteen minutes extra when you come back."

"Ugh. You know what? Fine. I don't have time to argue this." He rushed out and slammed the door shut.

Pyrrha picked up her things and started to redress herself for the next client. It wasn't long until someone else was knocking on her door. "The door is open!"

It opened, and Yang walked inside, dressed in her casual clothes. "Hey, Pyrrha," she said. "I'm heading back home for the night. You sure you're gonna be okay on your own?"

"Yes. I need to make up the time I lost from earlier."

"Oh, right. Because of your little date earlier."

"It wasn't a date!" Even though she really wanted to consider it such, she never liked to put the label on it.

"Right. Look, I'm still saying that this isn't a good idea. Dating a client never ends well." Pyrrha sat on the bed and pulled her knees to her chest. "Look, this isn't me trying to take away your happiness. I just want you to be realistic about this. Lord knows I wouldn't want you to be unhappy."

"Then, why did you make me do this job?!"

"I asked you if you wanted to join me. I never forced you to do this. No need to get up in arms."

Pyrrha sighed. "I'm sorry. It's just stressful."

"Maybe that's a sign. Look, if you don't wanna be in this job, I'd recommend looking into other employment opportunities."

"Well, for now, I'm just staying here."

"I can always help you find a different job if you want. Maybe if I can finally start that brothel of mine, you can run management."

Pyrrha smiled at the idea. "Still trying to work on that?"

"Just a dream now. Maybe not something that most women would be going after, but I'm still an ambitious woman." Pyrrha chuckled at the comment. "Anyways, I'm heading out. Be careful on your way back."

"I always am."

Yang smiled as she left her friend to finish working. If Pyrrha was honest, Yang was right. she did want to find herself in a different line of work sometime soon.

 

* * *

 

Taurus started moving more women into a truck for them to be trafficked. "Make sure they're gagged," he said. "I don't want any of them trying to kill themselves before we sell them."

"Do you sell boys?" he heard a woman say. He and his men turned to this voice and saw Salem walking into the compound. "The girls seem nice, but I think having my own man to have for myself wouldn't be bad."

Taurus was furious, but unusually, he was more subdued with his anger. "Apparently, I need to really look over the security in this fucking building. Who was in charge of keeping people out?"

"I think it was Danny," one man admitted.

"Well, go and kill Danny and put someone more competent in his place!"

"No need to worry," Salem said, halting the men. "I already killed him earlier. And you're right. You really do need to consider getting better security."

"What the fuck do you want?!"

"I already asked you. Do you traffic any men?"

"No. I don't. Now leave."

"Well, that's such a shame. You could expand your market if you decided to traffic young men. Maybe that's why you're so desperate to infringe on other people's trades."

Taurus stomped over to her. "Alright, listen here, you old bitch!" Before he knew what happened, Salem grabbed him and put a knife to his neck. She used him as a human shield as his men pointed their guns at her.

"You really should learn to respect your elders. All I wanted was to purchase some goods from you and this is how you treat me? Tsk, tsk, tsk. That is some rather poor salesmanship. Call off your men, and I'll be on my way."

"Grr. Stand down, guys!" His workers lowered their guns. Salem released him and started walking. "Wait! Who the hell are you working for?!"

"No one. Although, you could say that I'm connected to Cinder."

"That little cunt! I thought she was supposed to be leaving me alone!"

"I said I was connected to her. I never said I was here on her behalf." Now, Taurus was even more confused as the elder woman left his building. "You have a fine evening, Mr. Taurus."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **FUN FACTS:**  
>  * Look up videos of the Smith and Wesson Model 500 shooting melons, and you'll see that the description written in the first part isn't an exaggeration.  
> * I know you're supposed to just keep going in Russian roulette and not repeatedly open the chamber, but Cinder does it so it is more random. They can't just count how many are next. (Plus, the gun only holds five rounds.  
> * Yes! Summer is alive! :D  
> * I'll just be upfront and say that Salem is bisexual. And yes, she got head from a girl in public.  
> * When Mercury needs to use a fake name, he usually picks one starting with the letter M. Just in case others try to ask around about someone. Having the same letter in front help confuse it in your mind with other names. (You might be thinking "Cooper" when you mean "Cory" if you don't know the person well. I have been on the receiving end of this phenomenon a lot.)  
> * The Arcs are well-known in the medical field. You might have an idea of the kind of pressure Jaune is under at the moment.  
> * Emerald has a foot fetish. I realize I forgot to mention that last chapter, so I'm bringing it up here. Just in case anyone asks ~~even though no one really is asking~~.
> 
> I hope everybody has been enjoying the story so far. Please feel free to leave a comment below and let me know what you think (even if you hated it). By the way, just as a kinda fun game, try and guess why Cinder's acting so weird about Salem and leave it in the comments. I wanna know what you guys might be thinking.


	12. A Whole New Mess to Fall Into

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sienna Khan's campaign goes underway, Blake and Sun investigate their possible serial killer, and Cinder becomes more unhinged as the cloud left by Salem's presence looms over her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **WARNING:** Brief scene of rape in this chapter.

Ironwood paced around his office as Qrow sat with him. "This is bad," Ironwood said. "This is really, really bad."

Qrow replied, "No kidding. You didn't handle Khan's interruption well."

"I need to get the people back on my side, but how?"

"I'm pretty sure the first step is to make sure that they know you care. Knowing basic things like the casualty count at a tragedy might help."

"I don't focus on those details! No one ever asks!"

"But you should've known them anyway. That's why Khan got the drop on you. You didn't know something you really should have."

"That's ridiculous! How am I suddenly the bad guy?!" Qrow tried to keep himself from chuckling at the irony of him being in this office as Ironwood said that. "From how she talks about it, she makes it sound like I'm the one who set the bombs."

"You know how politics are, Jim. You say one wrong thing and it could haunt you for the rest of your career. That's why you have to be careful."

Ironwood's secretary suddenly burst into the room. "Mr. Mayor," she said, "you may want to turn on the evening news."

Ironwood did exactly that and saw Lisa Lavender introducing her interview. "Good evening, Vale," she began. "I'm Lisa Lavender and I'm joined today by political activist, Sienna Khan."

"Oh, great," Ironwood muttered.

"Miss Khan, thank you for being here tonight."

"The pleasure is all mine, Lisa," she replied.

"Why don't we start with your bold move earlier this week in response to the tragic bombing that claimed the lives of over forty people including twelve good police officers."

"Yes, it is an absolute shame. And it seems that the people in power are either ignorant of the real problems or complacent about it." Ironwood scoffed. "Gang activity of this scale has no place in this or any civilized city."

"You had some powerful words that day. I, for one, was rather moved by such a gesture. And it isn't the first time you've spoken out in such a way. You regularly are out protesting what you see as the corrupt and broken government establishments. What inspires you to do such things?"

"It's quite simple. Not only is it the duty of the citizens to stand up for what they want to see in their government, but it is their inalienable right."

"It always inspires me to see ordinary citizens standing up and speaking for what they believe."

"Well, those were the principles that America was founded on. If we don't exercise them, then what good are they? We need to have to use these rights while we can or else, we'll lose them when we need them most."

"A truly inspired statement."

Qrow smirked at the broadcast. "See, Ironwood?" he said. "This is the kind of thing you need to get on people's good side."

"Although," Lisa continued, "you might not exactly be an ordinary citizen soon."

Sienna chuckled. "I didn't think you'd get to it this soon, but you do have a good point."

Qrow and Ironwood were confused about this comment. "So, why don't to tell us the main reason why you're on the show tonight."

"Yes. I came here tonight to announce that I am going to be officially running for mayor."

"WHAT?!" Ironwood shouted. Qrow's jaw dropped since he had a bit of a tough time processing it, too.

"I've had a lot of thought about it even before now, and I recently got funding from a surprising source for my campaign. I'm fully prepared for this and I want to do what I can. Thankfully, the source has allowed me to be fully independent, so I can run an honest platform. I want people to vote for me based on my honest policies and not just what some manager thinks I should present to people. If I'm not getting elected for who I am, I might as well not be getting elected at all."

"This… this is ridiculous! Who the hell would be funding her campaign?"

It almost seemed like Lisa was reading his mind when she asked, "So, who is this mystery benefactor of yours?"

Sienna gave a bemused reply. "You're not gonna believe this, but the benefactor was actually Weiss Schnee of all people."

Ironwood's eyes widened when he heard that. "Holy shit," Qrow exclaimed.

"It honestly is a surprise to me, too."

"That's incredible," Lisa said. "Though, it may seem like a bit of an odd turn of events considering how you condemned the mayor's focus on the pop-star. What made you accept the donations?"

"I know that I may have had some less-than-ideal things to say about Schnee before, but when she came to me and said that she wanted to fund my campaign with no strings attached, I couldn't say no to that. She really had an investment in the future of this city after seeing both the bombing and her encounter with the body from about a week ago. And I definitely had my pre-conceptions about Schnee based on her status as a famous singer, but she did remind me of something that I think everyone should remember. She is a successful businesswoman as well. That is the side of her that gave me confidence in this donation. Knowing that she genuinely cares about how the campaign goes is rather refreshing."

"She's not wrong, you know," the two men heard. They turned to the door and saw Weiss standing there. "She has some excellent ideas to improve this city."

"But…" Ironwood stuttered. "…but what about the business deal we were having? We were so close to getting things off the ground."

"Well, I feel like I should at least wait until the election and see who is voted in. If you get elected, we can resume our business from where we left off. However, I do want to see this through to the end." Ironwood was flabbergasted by the news. "I do appreciate how accommodating you've been up to this point, but I think that you should probably focus on your campaign for now. Having to work with me would only slow you down." She shook his hand. "I thank you for the business we've done so far and if you get re-elected, I will gladly resume business with you once again. You have a good evening, Mr. Mayor."

As she left, Ironwood was left standing there with an ashen face. Qrow decided to get up and follow Weiss. He said, "I think you'll need some time to process this. I'll be right back." Thankfully for him, it didn't take long to find her with her assistant. "Hey, Schnee!" Both she and Glynda turned around to see the man waving them down. "Mind if we talk privately for a minute?"

Glynda looked down disapprovingly, but Weiss reassured her, "Don't worry. I'll be fine. Just wait in the limo." Glynda nodded and left as Weiss approached Qrow.

"I must say that was a pretty bold play there. I think Ironwood will be standing there like a statue for the next half hour."

Weiss smiled. "I just saw that Sienna had a real chance and I wanted to make sure she had the opportunity to personally make the change she wanted to see."

"You seem to be betting a lot on a political newcomer."

"I guess it’s a good thing that I have enough to bet on her."

Qrow chuckled. "I guess it is, but there is something I noticed. You said that you were seeing this thing the whole way through, but weren't you supposed to be leaving for a certain wedding pretty soon?"

"About that…" she said with a smirk, "…I may have an announcement of my own that pertains to it that I'll be releasing soon."

Qrow returned the smirk. "Good on you, Ice Queen."

Weiss nodded. "Thanks. I'll see you around, Branwen."

As Qrow watched her leave, his smile disappeared, and he revealed that he was concerned about the new candidacy. He immediately pulled out his phone to call Raven. "Hey, have you seen the news?"

"I did," she replied. "That does not look good for us. Ironwood was our puppet. What are we gonna do about this now?"

"I don't know. Do you want me to take her out?"

"I would. You could go be her professional ass-kisser and maybe you can try to wine and dine her. You'd make a good mayoral husband." Qrow grimaced at the insinuation. "Seriously though. You should actually consider hooking up with her –"

"Back on topic!"

"Fine, fine." She sighed before saying, "We can't take her out. If she disappears during this campaign, it'll look pretty bad. If anything, it'll just draw more attention."

"Good point."

"We might have to have a meeting about it with the others, but I think that talking to Cinder right now might not be the best."

"Why is that?"

"Our mole in her operation has noticed that she's been rather on-edge recently. According to him, he's starting to act more crazed than Taurus."

"That bad?"

"I don't know why, but I think it has something to do with this Salem lady."

"Who the fuck is Salem?"

"Oh, right. I didn't tell you. Some old lady came into my office the other day holding one of my men at gunpoint. She was asking me to say that she was coming to see Cinder."

"And you think she's wigging out over this lady?"

"I don't know why she would, but I don't want her going to the Bull's level of crazy. Taurus is unstable, but with Cinder's sadism, she'll probably end up burning down half the city if she doesn’t keep herself in check."

"Good point. I guess we'll have to wait until she takes a few chill pills then. I'll be heading back soon."

"Got it."

"And you better be fully dressed by the time I get back."

"Ugh. Fine." As Qrow hung up, he realized how much of a complication Khan's candidacy was going to be for his political operation.

 

* * *

 

Blake and Sun came up to the house of one of the victims. They were going to look for any possible clues that could aid in the investigation. However, one thing they noticed was the fact that the door to her house was already open. Sun noted, "I guess someone's already home."

"In a dead person's house?" Blake retorted. "Get your guns. We might need them."

The officers armed themselves, grabbed their radios, and carefully approached the house. They didn't want to immediately startle whoever was inside. Likely, the killer. As soon as they entered the house, the officers already heard two men arguing with each other while apparently trashing the place. Blake and Sun were careful where they stepped since there were bits of broken glass and ceramics all over the floor. In an unfortunate twist of fate, when the officers got to the kitchen, the intruders walked out and intercepted them. Two young black men; one rather hefty and one muscular. "Shit!" one of them screamed.

Sun and Blake held up their guns. "VPD! Show me your hands!" Unfortunately for them, the burglars were armed, and they started shooting. Thankfully, Blake and Sun were able to take cover. The robbers took cover as well and started shooting at them. Sun got a few shots off at them. Blake radioed the precinct. "Shots fired! Shots fired! We are pinned down and taking gunfire!" Blake heard Sun screaming and saw that he got shot in his left shoulder. "Sun!" Now, she had to get dangerous. As soon as she heard them take cover, she waited for them to come back up. As soon as one of them did, she shot the man in the chest and took him down. The fat one tried to shoot at her, but he was already out of bullets. His eyes widened as Blake fired a warning shot. "Don't fucking move a muscle!" The suspect dropped his gun and Blake looked at her partner. "Keep the pressure on your wound, Wukong."

"Don't have to tell me twice!" He pressed hard against his shoulder as he laid on the ground.

Blake approached the suspect and pulled out her handcuffs. "Turn around and put your hands behind your head." The suspect followed her orders. As soon as she was close enough, the cuffed him and read him his Miranda Rights. When she did, she noticed that the guns seemed a bit familiar. She'd make sure that she'd get that gun processed in evidence. She radioed the station once again. "This is Officer Belladonna. We've got a suspect and an officer down. One arrest made. We'll need backup soon."

Blake took the man to their squad car and placed him in the back seat. She then rushed back in to attempt to administer first aid to the suspect she shot. She saw Sun sitting up again. "Is that other guy fucking dead yet?"

"Not as far as I can tell." She put pressure on his wounds and tried to keep him alive. "Sun, save your strength. Don't move too much."

 

* * *

 

Cinder drove her red Ferrari to Adam's compound, absolutely furious that she had to be pulled over to his place. She was joined by Emerald and Mercury. Mercury was just exhausted with her recent unstable disposition, but Emerald seemed outright terrified by it. The car parked in front of the compound. As soon as she stepped out of the car and slammed the door aggressively. Emerald knew Cinder was in a bad mood because Cinder liked to take excellent care of that car. As she stormed up to the front door, she just glared at the door-guards. They were told that she would be arriving, so they let her and her assistants into the building. They were led to Taurus' office where he was sitting, waiting for the sadistic woman.

Taurus stood up from his desk and approached Cinder. "Well," he began, "looks like the fire goddess comes forward at my request."

"Don't flatter yourself, Taurus," she spat. "I'm only here because you said it was important. You said an associate of mine was here earlier?" She had an idea of who it was, and Mercury mentioned that she was here, but she hoped it was wrong.

"Some old bitch who said she was with you." Mercury knew exactly who the "old bitch" was and was already concerned about Cinder's reaction. "She killed one of my men and had the gall to hold a knife to my neck."

"One, you kill more men in a day and if it was the person who allowed her to get in, I bet you were going to do it anyway." Taurus gave a low growl of frustration. Even in her position, she couldn't help but knock others down. "Two, I wouldn't go around admitting to people that you got held hostage at knifepoint by an old woman. Getting your ass kicked by a young woman is emasculating enough, isn't it?"

Taurus simply crossed his arms across his chest. "I should've figured that fucking woman was with you. She had the same smug attitude. You seem to only surround yourself with people who can match your level of hubris like your hitman-slash-fuckbuddy." Cinder was already angered by the suggestion.

However, Mercury calmly added, "I wouldn't be slamming the guy who beat the hell out of you, but I'm glad that you at least learned the word 'hubris.' I'm quite proud of you, Adam."

"Do you wanna go again, Black?! I'll wipe the floor with you!"

Taurus stormed over to Mercury and tried to pull out his gun. Instead, Cinder grabbed Taurus' wrist by surprise and pinned him against the wall while disarming him. "I could've done that myself."

"I know you could," she replied as she pointed the barrel to Taurus' head, "but I'm just trying to help out." Cinder's comment made him smirk when he remembered what happened in the range. She then went back to Taurus. "Now, tell me. Did she give you a name?"

"No," Taurus answered.

"What did she look like?"

"Some old lady! What the fuck do you think she looked like?"

"Were her eyes red?"

"What?"

Cinder pushed the barrel further into the back of his neck. "Did she have red eyes, goddammit?!"

"I think? I don't know!"

"Was her outfit showing off her cleavage?" Taurus was understandably confused by the question. "Come on, Taurus! I know you'd remember that! You think with your balls half the time anyway. That's why you fuck your own supply!" She grabbed his crotch hard to convince him to speak. "Give me some answers or I'll shoot them off with a Desert Eagle!"

"Yeah, she was. What do her tits have to do with anything?"

She released him without even thinking to answer the question. "I can't believe this," she muttered to herself. "Why would she do this?"

"Do what?!"

Cinder continued muttering, "She's just trying to toy with me now. That's what she does."

"I don't fucking believe it." Taurus started smirking. "Are you scared of this old lady? The great Cinder getting scared!"

He began to laugh, but then she shoved the barrel of her gun in his mouth. She had a manic look in her eyes as two of his workers pointed their guns at her. "I'm not scared of a fucking thing! I'm not scared of her! And I sure as shit am not scared of you! Don't you dare presume –"

"Cinder," Mercury said, drawing her attention to the guards in the room.

She glared at them as she lowered her gun and released him. Taurus gave a short chuckle before saying, "I guess if you're done being a whiny little woman-baby…" Cinder's fists and jaw clenched. "…our conversation is done here. You got the information you want."

"Fine," she replied.

"And one more thing…" Cinder listened, but all she got was a punch in the face. As she held her face, he venomously said, "Don't you dare try to disrespect me in my own territory." She gave him a stone-cold glare… just before kissing him deeply on the lips. Both Mercury and Emerald were confused by the gesture. But when she pulled away, it started to make more sense when she spat in his face just after. "What the hell was that for?!"

"If you're going to stand here and try to fuck me over, the least you could do is treat me like a lady when you do it." The indomitable spirit of Cinder was back again when she smirked at him. "Mercury. Emerald. We're done here." As she left Taurus and his men dazed, her assistants joined her as she left the compound. Taurus was furious that he was still knocked down even when he got the upper hand.

However, it was a different story once the trio got back in the car. Cinder's smile disappeared, but Mercury was still smirking about her ending move on Taurus. "I've gotta say," he began, "That took some serious balls. I'm sure the Bull isn't going to be able to get over that one." Cinder started the car and made her way out, making sure they weren't being followed. "I'm sure he'll be sitting at his desk for hours waiting for you to text him back. 'Oh, boo-hoo, she broke my heart! Whatever shall I do?!'"

"Mercury?!" Cinder shouted. "Shut up!" With that outburst, both he and Emerald knew that she was far from back to normal. The rest of the car ride was in a bitter silence.

 

* * *

 

Sun was getting stitched up for his gunshot and insisted that he be able to get back to work. Blake stood by when he was being treated. He winced every time the needle went into his skin. "Ow!" he exclaimed.

"Don't be such a baby," Blake replied. "You're the one who wanted to get back into action right after this, so suck it up."

"I didn't think it would hurt this much."

Blake shook her head. "You know, for someone who spends as much time at the gym as you do, I would hope you wouldn't be complaining this much."

"I've never been shot before! Give me a break! I don't remember the last time you took a bullet!"

"Fair enough."

"By the way, did you get those guns processed yet?"

"Yeah. Looks like they were imported. That definitely sounds like something that should be looked into."

"And I'm guessing you know just the detective to tell." Blake smiled because they both knew the exact detective she was thinking of. "You wanna tell her now, or should we wait?"

"We'll interrogate our suspects first. Then we'll see if there's anything that can be found."

 

* * *

 

Nia had a girl tied up to her bed and gagged. One of Taurus' best that she could get. Large breasts, a full ass, and supple skin that was to die for. As the unfortunate woman tried to escape the bindings, Nia pulled out a huge strap-on dildo, almost too big to be practical. She preferred it that way to make sure that her victims felt the pain. As she put the harness on, Nia smirked at the panicking woman. "Like my huge cock, baby?" The girl violently shook her head as Nia held the dildo while hovering over her. Nia took the time to sniff her skin and lick the girl's nipples. "So lovely…" As Nia caressed the larger girl's hips, she shoved the dildo in roughly with little regard for how much pain the girl was in. The small iota of regard she did have was to make sure that her victim was having as much pain as possible. Nia pressed her body against the woman while listening to her muffled screams.

 

* * *

 

Blake and Sun stood in front of their suspects, Jamal, in the interrogation room. They decided to do good cop/bad cop, and Sun had a talent for bad-copping people. He glared at the perp as Blake gave a calm gaze. "Now," Blake began, "Why don't you start by explaining why you were caught in a deceased woman's house?"

"Yo, I didn't know the bitch was dead," he claimed. "I was just goin' in to steal her shit. That's all. I ain't no killer."

"Then what's the reason you had a gun on you? I doubt that you were just planning on keeping the thing around to look 'gangsta'."

"I wasn't gonna shoot nobody. It was just to scare people off."

"Word of advice: that tends to work better when the people you're trying to threaten aren't also armed. Now, you've got one man who's got a foot in the grave and a wounded officer standing in front of you." Jamal looked up at the detective. "And let me tell you, Detective Wukong isn't very happy about it." Sun's glare intensified as he shook his head, and Jamal cowered in fear. "Not to mention, you also ruined a crucial crime scene that would've assisted in apprehending a serial killer. Had you already left by the time we got there, we would've collected evidence that would've connected it to you."

"I told you. I'm no killer!"

"BULLSHIT!" Sun yelled as he slammed his good fist on the table. "You're a goddamn liar and you fucking know it! Let me tell you something. I don't need both hands to beat the shit out of your fat ass! You hear me?!"

Blake held up her hand to "restrain" her partner. "Sun," she said, "please." Sun reluctantly stepped back. "We only want your cooperation. It's not going to cost you much. I guarantee you that. You're already sitting on some rather steep charges. Breaking and entering, aggravated assault, and a possible felony death with your partner's life on the line. I'd just wanna help you avoid any possible further legal issues if possible in exchange for answering our questions."

"Look, I don't know a goddamn thing," Jamal replied. "My partner was the one who said he knew the place. I was just following the nigga 'cuz I thought it'd be an easy gig. And can that dude please stop staring at me? It's fucking creepy!"

Sun yelled, "I'll stare at you as much as I fucking want! If you don't like it, you can go fuck yourself! Free of charge, by the way!"

Blake continued questioning. "So, you're saying the guy I shot is the one who knows the most about the house."

"I swear! Just ask that nigga. He knows what's up. I'm just the one who got the guns."

"Alright then. And here I thought you'd be useless." Blake's smile grew.

"Watchu talkin' about?"

"It appears that the guns you guys were using were initially sold by the arms dealer only known as 'Cinder'. I'm sure you've heard of her. And if you've had any direct contact with her, I know another officer who would be rather keen to have a few words with you."

"I've never met the crazy ho. I wouldn't know the first thing to tell you."

"But you do know the distributor. This would be very easy to trace back to her or the mob boss that initially sold it. All you need to tell me is who your supplier is."

"I can't tell you that. He'll cut my balls off."

Sun chimed in again and shouted, "I'll do a lot worse than cut your balls off if you don't give us a fucking name, you fat fuck!"

Blake stroked her chin as she had an idea. "Hey, Jamal… have you ever been to Atlas."

"Yeah," he answered, "Why?"

"Well, it turns out we just got a new transfer from their precinct. I don't know if you might be familiar with her. Her name is Officer Polendina." As Jamal's fear grew, Blake's smile widened. Penny wasn't joking about that reputation. "She recently came up and I think that if you won't talk to her, she'd love to talk to you. Isn't that right, Wukong?"

"That's right," Sun replied with a sadistic grin. "That sounds just like the sort of thing this son of a bitch needs." Jamal was already sweating. "What's the matter, Jamal? Wouldn't be able to stand the Polendina heat?" Sun got in his face. "If that's the case, then I recommend you give us some fucking answers about where you got that gun before I throw you to the redhead! The choice is yours!" Sun backed up and the officers let the fear build in their suspect.

It wasn't long until he was spilling his guts. Blake knew that this was exactly what Ruby needed to get her out of her slump.

 

* * *

 

Mercury walked up to Cinder's office to talk to her. He was surprised to find Emerald standing outside, seemingly waiting to be let in. He walked up to her and tapped her on the shoulder. "Is Cinder in there?" he asked.

Emerald shrugged. "She just told me to wait here when we came back, and she hasn't even let me know if she was returning."

He crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall. "Are you sure she's not just testing you to see how long you can stand outside this door waiting for her? It seems like the kind of thing she'd do. She has been pretty stressed lately, so I'm guessing trolling you is one way to calm down."

"She wouldn't do that to me."

"Don't think of it as a bad thing. This is her being nice. Anyone else, she'd just take a sledgehammer to the temple. You're one of the lucky ones." He smirked as her head fell. "Don't give me that mopey bullshit. You know the kind of woman she is."

"She's never been this bad, though." His smile dropped as she realized that she was making a valid point. "It's like she's becoming a totally different person."

"Or she's just losing her grip on her usual brand of refined, sophisticated crazy and has crossed the line into the plain batshit territory."

Emerald took a moment to mull over something she remembered. "Who was that lady she was talking about? The one who saw Taurus."

"I have no idea. She refuses to tell me anything about her. Earlier, she told me to go out and look for her again. Still, I don't know why. All I know is what she calls herself. 'Salem.'" Emerald's frown extended. "Whoever she is, this Salem character is really fucking with her for whatever reason. That's all I could tell you about her."

"Do you know where she is?"

"I do… and she may be the only one who can tell me anything." With that idea in his head, Mercury left to see Salem on Cinder's orders. He'd deliver Cinder's message, but he had a few questions of his own that he was going to ask.

 

* * *

 

Doctors were lined up and tied to chairs in a dark warehouse, awaiting whatever punishment they faced. All of them were scared out of their minds and had no idea why they were there in the first place. Suddenly, they heard the click of a cane as they saw the redheaded mob boss walking into the room. "Good evening, everyone," Torchwick said. "I know the kidnapping seems a bit jarring, but I wish to employ you all to join the surgery team for Torchwick Enterprises!" He held out his hands to the side as if he was a circus ringleader. All the surgeons were confused. "Now, this may seem a bit coerced, but I am willing to pay a substantial amount for your services. So long as you say nothing about this to the police. We will return you to your families – yes, we know where they are – and you'll be visited by one of my associates to pick you up for the work. And if you try to tell the police, we will make sure your families are used for organs. But, if you comply, you'll be paid handsomely. Any questions?"

"Yeah," one doctor said. "What if we refuse? You're that organ trafficker, aren't you? You really think we would be complicit in taking organs from innocent people? I won't have it!"

Torchwick then pulled out a gun and shot him in the head twice, startling the other doctors. "Then you'll be used as organs, too." Roman looked up at Hazel, wearing a mask. "Take him to the head doctor to see if he's a match for any customers." Hazel nodded and took the body away. Torchwick once again addressed the doctors. "Apologies for the mess. I figured I'd have to shoot at least one person or else you wouldn't believe me. Of course, it would be the one who had nothing to lose. No wife, no kids, nothing. I guess he wouldn't have much to leverage against him anyway. However, you all have families, and they all make you rather vulnerable to someone like me, a man who is free from that certain moral restraint. So, what do you say? Will I have to start shooting more of you, or will you agree to the conditions set?" Hazel came back with bags of cash and displayed them for the doctors.

A female doctor spoke up and asked, "You'll leave our families alone?"

"Cross my heart. I'm nothing if not an honest man. I'll make sure that my men don't target them whenever they're out on the street. I may be ruthless, but I'm not a liar. I'll be talking with our head doctor to give you all some time to consider it." Roman walked out of the room and left Hazel in charge of watching them. He approached Watts collecting tissue samples from the dead doctor. "Happy now, doctor? You asked for a team, and I got you one."

Watts asked, "Did you make sure I had all of the specialists needed?"

"I made sure to look through the records to make sure they were exactly what you needed. You can even interview them after I make sure that they are convinced by my business proposal."

"Clearly this man wasn't very receptive."

Roman pulled out a Cuban cigar and lit it. "Nothing to lose but his life. Clearly, a price he was willing to pay."

"Could you please not smoke in this room?" Torchwick groaned. "I swear, you'll be needing a lung transplant at this rate."

"I'm sure I'm good for it anyway. Just get things done." Torchwick left to go see who was going to accept his offer.

 

* * *

 

Ozpin sat in his office looking over reports and preparing to go home for the day. He was exhausted and really needed to get some sleep. However, fate wouldn't be so kind as to give him a break. He heard a knock at the door and he wasn't expecting anyone at this hour. "Come in!" he yelled.

To his surprise, he saw Sienna Khan entering his office. "Good evening, Commissioner," she said, walking forward to shake his hand. "You might remember me."

"Sienna Khan." He shook her hand reluctantly. "Of all the encounters we've had, I would doubt that you'd be the one coming to me."

"Well, I'm guessing you've seen the news by now."

"That you're running for mayor."

"Precisely. And I'm willing to let bygones be bygones considering that there's the potential that I could be your new superior. Do you mind if I take a seat?"

"Go right ahead." Ozpin took a sip of his coffee as Sienna sat down. "Though, I'm not sure if this visit is quite practical since you're actively campaigning. It seems like there might be a conflict of interest."

"I understand your concern, but since I plan on making sure that law enforcement is at its utmost efficiency if elected, I thought it would be useful to come by and see the state of the Vale Police Department and determine what needs improvement."

"I see your point."

"Now, I'm well aware of several of the issue that you might have working with Ironwood at the current moment. Stifling investigations to fit a certain political agenda. The Schnee business deal being one of them. Am I wrong?"

Ozpin chuckled nervously. "Well, I wouldn't say that this is the sort of thing that I should be talking about since he still is the elected mayor."

"No need to confirm. I just wanted you to know that I intend to run things a little differently. Instead of advancing a political agenda, I want to genuinely improve this city. So, I want the police to work with me instead of for me. Meaning, no more selfishly-motivated orders or restrictions. If an investigation needs to be seen through, then we'll see it through regardless."

"What if that investigation happens to be of your office? I'm sure your aware that it's quite possible for there to be corruption in your office."

"I'd allow it without hesitation. Since I have nothing to hide, I won't have anything to worry about. Even if it takes months, I shall give you the time you need to confirm what I already know to be true. That my hands are clean."

Ozpin adjusted his glasses. He had to admit that he appreciated what she was selling. It was almost too good to be true. "Pardon my saying this, but it is rather refreshing to see a genuinely honest politician."

"That's because I'm not running as your typical politician. Most run with the prospect of reelection. I intend to serve the people's interests. I make my platform clear and expect people to vote for me based on that. Not just empty campaign promises or embellished rhetoric. If the people vote for me based on that, then I have nothing to worry about when enacting the policies that I wish to carry out. The people chose me for those reasons and I intend to fulfill them. The citizens of Vale can rest easy knowing that I'm working hard to make sure that happens."

"Hm. Quite inspiring. I'm guessing that's why Ms. Schnee was willing to lend you the funding."

"I will admit that I had a certain indifference to Schnee, but after seeing her enthusiasm and investment in my campaign, I couldn't say no to her offer. Besides, without having to worry about backing from the typical party conventions, I can run this campaign freely, the way the founding fathers intended."

"Well, I probably shouldn't be saying this, but I do hope you go far in your campaign. You seem like a rather articulate woman and the people of Vale would be privileged to have you as their mayor."

"Thank you, Commissioner. Which brings me to my next point. I am considering letting you stay on as the police commissioner if elected. From what I can tell, you seem rather dedicated to your job and I think you might be the right kind of person I want working in this department."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. I might be busy campaigning for the moment, but I will do my best to find the time to discuss your goals and policies as police commissioner."

"I'd be genuinely honored." They heard another knock on the door. "Come in!"

Ruby poked her head in and saw Ozpin with Sienna. "Is this a bad time?" she asked.

"Of course not. In fact, it's a perfect time. Sienna, I'd like you to meet Sergeant Rose. She's one of my best major crimes detectives."

Sienna stood to shake Ruby's hand. "Pleasure to meet you," she said.

"Likewise," Ruby answered.

Suddenly, Sienna got a message on her phone. "Shit," she muttered. "I'm running behind. I'll contact you later, Ozpin. We still have a lot to talk about."

As Sienna left, Ruby went further into Ozpin's office. "What was that all about?"

Ozpin explained, "I think we might be looking at the anti-Ironwood."

"Wait. Isn't she that chick who called 'bullshit' at his press conference?" Ozpin nodded. "Well, she couldn't be much worse than him. I guess we'll see."

"Indeed. So, what is it you came to me for?"

"Well, my partners have been going out finding leads on the 'Cinder' case, and… I just think that I'd do better out in the field with them."

Ozpin sighed. "Rose, I know you're a damn good detective, but you know rules are rules." Ruby's jaw clenched with frustration. "Look, if they come back with a solid lead to investigate, I'll see to it that you'll be able to go and see it through with them."

"Fine," she muttered.

"'Fine' what?"

"Fine, sir."

"That's more like it." Ruby and Ozpin smirked at the joke as she was let out of the office. If nothing else, she knew that Ozpin was on her side.

 

* * *

 

Ruby sat at her desk waiting to finally clock out for the day. She spun her pen around in her fingers as she looked through the reports that she needed to file. Suddenly, a plastic evidence bag was placed on her desk. She looked up at the hand delivering it to her and saw that it belonged to her wife. Blake smirked as she looked at Ruby. "Guess where this gun is from?" Ruby shrugged. "It might help if you took a look for yourself."

Ruby inspected the gun and saw that the material seemed rather familiar. "Looks like carbon fiber body. I'm guessing Chinese in origin."

"Well, seems odd that we found this with two muggers who clearly have never been to China before."

"Wait… you mean –"

"Illegally traded. And likely from a certain mob boss that you might be looking for."

Ruby perked up immediately and hugged Blake. "Oh, thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" She let go of Blake and picked up the gun again. "This might be just what I need!"

"Well, then it's your evidence now. The chief is gonna let me give it to you and your partners. I'd recommend telling them about it when you can."

"Absolutely! I've gotta tell Ozpin. He'll need to know about this and then I can get back out on the field." Ruby planted a kiss on Blake's lips. "Oh, man. What did I ever do to deserve you?"

Blake chuckled. "I don't know, but you've got me now. I just wish I could get that serial killer we've been looking for."

 

* * *

 

Salem returned to her motel room where she decided to stay while waiting on Cinder. Her days had become rather uneventful but playing the waiting game was something she was willing to do. She entered the dark room as she left her coat up on the rack. "Does Cinder pay you to lurk in the dark," she suddenly said, "or was that just your idea?"

She flicked on the light and saw Mercury reclining in a chair with his gun pointed at her. Mercury shrugged and replied, "I guess I just have a taste for theatrics." Salem smirked. "I gotta be honest and say that you are quite an interesting individual."

"I know that it might be surprising that I still look this good in my old age, but I take care of myself."

"Not exactly what I was referring to, but now that you mention it, you do look pretty good."

Salem sat on the edge of her bed. "Well, I know she sent you for a reason. I assume it was reconnaissance. Am I correct?" Mercury nodded. "Then, tell me, why make yourself known?"

"I am a rather stealthy guy, but I notice when people are taking notice of me. Even when they're trying to hide it." Salem chuckled in response. "You knew I was following you, yet you went about your business like it didn't matter. Why?"

"I knew Cinder wasn't sending you to kill me. If she wanted me dead, she'd do it herself. So, I'd recommend putting that gun down if you don't want to end up dying horribly."

Her confidence is something that immediately caught his attention. He reluctantly placed the gun down on the table. "You seem to know a lot about Cinder. Almost like you have some sort of past together. And I'm guessing that it's not the best past considering how high-strung she's becoming. What's up with that?"

"That is a personal matter between myself and Cinder. No one else needs to know."

"Really? Are you really gonna be cryptic like that? It's bad enough that Cinder won't say. Now you're doing it?"

"Well, I try not to pry into your sex life with Cinder, so don't pry into our personal history."

His smirk disappeared. "How did you…?"

She playfully dodged the question. "I just… know things…" His eyes narrowed at the mysterious woman. "Might I have a look at you for myself?"

"What?"

"Stand up." He didn't know what exactly she wanted from him, but he did as he was told. "Remove the shirt." That request made him raise an eyebrow. "Oh, come on. No need to be embarrassed. Especially if you look half as good as I assume."

"Look, I don't know what you're playing at, but –"

"Nothing sinister. I'd just like to have a better look at you." He was reluctant, mostly because he had no idea what was going on or why she wanted this, but he did as he was told nonetheless. Salem walked closer, liking what she saw. "She certainly has good taste. Speaking of which…" Salem pulled Mercury to the bed and sat him down. She kissed abs as she started to unbuckle his belt.

"Look… I'm not really complaining about this, but…"

"What is it? Should I be returning the favor?" She stepped back and started to pull off her shirt. "Does this make you more inclined to agree?"

He'd be lying if he said it didn't. Even for her age, it wasn't a bad sight. "I guess."

"You're quite a handsome young man." Salem moved closer as she pulled off her bra. "But I doubt that you try to go for women in your own age range anyway."

"Well…" He paused as Salem's lips wrapped around his member. "…I guess I have a thing for older women."

Salem smirked as she pulled down her own pants and mounted him. "Glad to know that I'm your type." She slowly ground her hips into his as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "A rather decent size, too. I can see why Cinder likes you, but are you really going to let the lady take charge?"

He wasn't too sure about why she was doing this, but he was still in too deep at this point. "You know Cinder quite well, right?" Salem nodded. "How pissed off do you think she'll be about us doing this?"

Salem smirked. "Very, but don't worry, Mr. Black. She'll be directing most of that anger towards me. You'll be absolutely fine."

"Are you sure about that?"

"If I know her as well as I think I do, I'm certain of it."

"Well, in that case…" Mercury picked the older woman up and pinned her to the bed. "…I guess there's no harm in showing you a bit more of what Cinder likes about me."

Salem chuckled before drawing him in for a kiss. "I can't wait." Mercury thought he was most likely going to be in serious trouble for this, so he might as well enjoy himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **FUN FACTS:**  
>  * I know Ruby hasn't had a lot of focus in these last few chapters, but it's kinda hard to get her out there when she's stuck on desk duty for the time being.  
> * The shot that Sun took was in the same place that Ilia shot him in Volume Four.  
> * Yes, Cinder has really always been this crazy. She's just had better control over it.  
> * If you need help imagining Sun as the bad-cop, just imagine Michael on _Rage Quit_ and that'll give you a good idea of it.  
>  * While this isn't the case with Emerald, Cinder does usually like trolling people when she's not in a great mood. This mood, however, isn't the kind that would be helped by trolling.  
> * Ruby is obviously a weapons expert. She's been like that long before she had to be investigating Cinder.  
> * Mercury does have a thing for women who are older than him. Cinder is at least five years older. Yang might actually be a couple of years older than him, too.
> 
> The next two chapters are ones I'm really looking forward to posting and I hope you'll be looking forward to them as well. As always, feel free to leave a comment. I may not always respond, but I always read them. And I thank you for the ones I've received so far. I hope you enjoyed reading the story up to this point and I hope you continue to enjoy it when I release more.
> 
> (P.S., I'm a little surprised no one has said anything about Nia. Just saying.)


	13. Inopportune Timing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one will be a bit shorter than the rest since it's more of a filler chapter, but I'll be getting a longer one out for the next chapter.

Officer Stanfield sat across from Cardin as he asked him several questions. Ciel would've taken care of questioning Cardin herself, but… well, there were obvious reasons why that wouldn't be helpful. "Now," Stanfield began, "Can you say with absolute certainty that you had nothing to do with the bombing?"

"Absolutely," Cardin replied. "I didn't have any part in that bombing." It was technically true since he had no hand in it, but he knew he was responsible for leaking it to Cinder. "Honestly, I don't know why you're wasting your time on me. I wasn't even involved in the operation."

"Were you not responsible for setting up the decoy convoy?"

"Yes, but it's not like they told me the secret route that Thrush was going. They only told me what I needed to know." Again, technically true. They didn't disclose this information to him. He eavesdropped enough to figure out where they'd need to be.

"Fair enough, but you at least knew that Thrush wasn't in the convoy you were assembling."

Now, Cardin did have to blatantly lie. "I only found out when they didn't load him into the armored vehicle that he would have been going in. They only said this at the last minute. They were rather secretive about it. Besides, even if I was talking with mobsters, that's not nearly enough time for them to set up the rocket and the bomb. Even if I could get the information about the secret route to them."

Stanfield still seemed suspicious of him, but Cardin still avoided giving himself away with any tells. "Well, there has to be some way they got that information. And we already questioned Rose. We're running out of options at this point."

"Then you might as well interrogate every officer in the precinct. And while you're at it, why not ask the guys in the mailroom." He suddenly got uncharacteristically serious. "Look, twelve of our fellow officers are dead. You think I'd be specifically putting them in danger?"

Stanfield sighed. "Well, you have had some issues with other officers in the precinct."

"Issues that go right up to outright being willing to let them get murdered? Come on, Jerry. I wouldn't intentionally do something that would put them in danger. The job is dangerous enough as it is."

"If you say so, but we'll still have to be keeping an eye on you. If you've seen with any known associates of the mob, we'll have to take you into questioning immediately." Cardin knew it wouldn't be so easy as giving a denial, but it still frustrated him to know that he still didn't get off the hook for this yet.

As soon as he went back to his desk, he got a text from an unknown number.

**Unknown:** Use your lunch break to go to the coffee shop. Don't draw attention to yourself.

He knew it was from Cinder or someone who worked for her, so he deleted the text immediately and pocketed his phone, making sure no one saw the message.

 

* * *

 

Ruby shared the piece of evidence that she found with Ren and Penny. "Ruby," Penny exclaimed, "this is perfect! It's just what we need to take down Cinder."

Ruby chuckled and replied, "Then you'll wanna thank my wife for this information. She's the one who brought it to me. With this, we might find another solid lead. Provided that the dealer didn't mysteriously die. We really need to keep this one under wraps. You don't talk about this with anyone other than me, the chief, or the commissioner. I've already told Sun and Blake to keep quiet about this."

Ren answered, "You can count on us. Don't worry."

"Good. Now, this is the dealer's name." She pointed to where she wrote the name on a scrap of paper. She didn't want to risk saying it out loud. "We'll have to go undercover. We'll go to the usual spot and ask around and see if we can find him."

 

* * *

 

Emerald waited at the coffee shop for her meeting. She was being the one forced to talk to Cardin since she had the least risk of being connected to Cinder's criminal activity. As far as she was concerned, she didn't want to be on Cinder's bad side when she was in such a foul mood. Being nearly choked by Cinder's thighs was bad enough for her. Thankfully, it wasn't long until Cardin arrived, and he was still wearing the smuggest of smiles. "Well, well, well," he said. "Thank God she sent the pretty one. Didn't wanna deal with Merc."

Emerald didn't respond. She really didn't have time to put up with his nonsense right now. "Look," she began, "I'm only here to make sure you're not being suspected. Has I.A. pinned anything on you?"

"Nothing. I've been pretty careful."

"Then just make sure you keep it that way. She'll be in direct contact with you again soon."

"Well, when you do see her, tell her that she needs to put out as a form of extra compensation." Emerald knew what he meant when she saw his smirk. "I mean, with I.A. breathing down my goddamn neck, the least she could do is let me tap that sexy ass of hers."

"I… don't think you'd want to ask her for that right now. She's not in the best of moods."

"Really? What, is it that time of the month? I'll be sure to bring tampons for her then as a peace offering." He chuckled at the joke, but Emerald didn't answer. And she knew he wishes it were something as simple as that. And if he did actually go through with that, they wouldn't end up being covered in her blood.

 

* * *

 

Cinder rode on top of one of her workers. A man who she had discovered had been a spy for the Branwens the whole time. However, he didn't know he had been found out. And frankly, he didn't notice that his boss having sex with him was almost too good to be true. Cinder slowed her pace and leaned down to whisper to him. "Are you enjoying yourself?"

"Fuck yeah," he replied, oblivious to his fate.

"I bet you are. Getting to sleep with your boss… if only…" Her hands made their way around his neck. "…I was your real boss."

He raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Before he knew it, Cinder's seductive smirk and the playful glint in her eye turned to a manic grin as her fingers clamped down on his neck. "I know you work for the Branwens."

"What?" he gasped, struggling to breathe. "What are you talking about?"

Her hands gripped his neck tighter as she rode him faster. "Don't lie to me," she moaned. "Or do lie… It's not like it'll help you."

"Please… It's not what you think…" He futilely tried to pry her hands from around his throat. His face started becoming a deep shade of purple as his eyes started bulging from fear. Something that only excited her.

Her orgasm built up as the life left his eyes. "Fuck yes! You'll get what you deserve, you son of a bitch." She let out a loud moan as she crushed his windpipe. His hands fell to his sides as he died. As she tossed his body on the ground, two more workers that she called earlier entered the room, aghast at the sight and frankly shocked by their boss' lack of modesty. "Take care of this," she casually ordered as she went to grab her clothes. They did as she asked without question.

 

* * *

 

Pyrrha sat on her couch as she let Jaune eat her out. She moaned softly as she felt him pleasure her. "You're getting… good at this…" she moaned. It was one thing she was teaching him to help pleasure women better. "Keep going…" Her fingers raked through his hair as she felt the orgasm building up. Her moaning was still quiet, but it became more intense. "Yes…" She clutched his head harder as her orgasm erupted.

As she came down from the high, Jaune looked up at her. "How was that?" he asked.

"Good… very good…"

"Are you sure this helps?"

"Well, if you can't last long, you have to bring a girl to orgasm somehow. It'll be pretty helpful." Pyrrha grabbed her panties. "However, you've been going a bit longer recently."

Jaune shrugged. "Not by much."

"It's still progress. That's what matters."

Jaune gave a sad smile. "Thanks."

"Do you want to keep going?"

"No, I think I should actually be going soon. I need to study."

"Oh, right…" She remembered that he was still a student and in a decidedly difficult field of study. He needed to keep up on his studies. "Well, good luck with the studying."

"Thanks," Jaune replied as he scrambled to get his clothes on. "I'll see you around."

"Wait," Pyrrha exclaimed. "I just wanna say…" She tried to confess to him. The words were right on the tip of her tongue. Seeing him look into her eyes made her even more nervous. "The thing… I wanted to say… is…"

At that moment, Yang entered the apartment. "Hey, Pyrrha," she said with a smile.

"Oh! Hello again."

"And I'm guessing this is Jaune." She pointed at the blond-haired boy who meekly waved back.

"Coming home early?"

"Yeah, but don't mind me if you guys were in the middle of something." Yang winked at Jaune and he blushed at the gesture.

Jaune stuttered, "I was actually on my way out. But Pyrrha, did you wanna say something?"

Pyrrha froze because she could tell Yang knew what she was going to say by the look in her eyes. "Uh…" she said, "just that… I hope you have a good rest of your day."

Jaune smiled, but Yang sighed to herself. As Jaune left, Yang looked at Pyrrha's dejected expression. She could already tell Pyrrha was mentally kicking herself. "You are hopeless," she said. Pyrrha just sighed and went to her room. "You know that this can't go for much longer." Yang followed her roommate.

"I know."

"Look, he seems like a nice guy, but you'd be better off not trying to go for him. I know I've said it dozens of times, but I seriously mean it. Just move on. But if you're gonna go through with this, just go through with it already."

"You're right. But I just… I just need time to tell him on my own."

"Do you want me to tell him for you."

"No! No. I have to do it myself."

Yang shrugged as she left. "Alright. If you think it'll help."

"Why are you here anyway?"

"Just needed a break for today. Just needed to get away from it all, you know?"

Pyrrha knew that all too well. However, she didn't think Yang ever felt the same way. "I never knew you got tired of the job."

"Well, you can only fuck so many old sweaty men before you get bored."

"At least that's something we agree on," Pyrrha said with a smirk.

 

* * *

 

Blake and Sun stood in Ozpin's office waiting for him to approve their investigation on Tyrian, and he was rather apprehensive about it. "Are you sure there are no other suspects?" he asked.

Blake replied, "None that could be considered yet. But the fact that Tyrian isn't in the facility he was supposed to be held in only strengthens this possibility." With that comment, Ozpin sighed. "Look, I know that this is a stretch, but I doubt we'll find any other suspects any time soon. By then, we might find other victims."

"I understand your concern, but we can't just pin this on a random suspect. And you know that this is the job of the missing person's department."

"He's a homicide culprit. Is that our job?"

"Belladonna, you know damn well what will happen if you go after this and you turn out to be wrong. People already have enough distrust of the police as is. We don't need any fuel for the fire. Especially with a good cop like yourself. I'm sorry."

Sun was furious with this response and couldn't help his outburst. "So, you'd rather let more people die rather than apprehend this lunatic?! Even if he isn't guilty of the dismemberments, you can't say that leaving him out on the streets isn't dangerous!"

"You know we have a process with these things. You can't rush into this."

"Well, if the process is to let that psycho cut more people up, then it's bullshit!"

Ozpin pinched the bridge of his nose. "I understand your frustration, but there isn't much I can do about this. Unless you can bring me some definitive proof that Callows is involved in your case, you can't pursue this. Until such a time, you must find other suspects. Are we clear?"

"But –"

"Yes, sir," Blake answered, surprising Sun. "I understand. Let's just go, Sun." Reluctantly, Sun followed her out of the office as he rubbed his shoulder.

As they went back to their desks, Sun ranted, "I can't believe you're just letting it go that easily!"

"Sun, you heard what Ozpin said. There isn't much we can do about it. At this point, all we can do is hope we catch the son of a bitch in the act."

"I can help," they heard someone say. They were both startled when they realized that it was Penny, who had seemed to materialize out of thin air. "I want to help you take care of him!"

Sun's eyes were wide when he yelled, "Have you been waiting there the whole fucking time?!"

Penny ignored the comment and continued, "The Panda Killer needs to be brought to justice. And I'll be darned if I let him butcher more people."

"So, you're just gonna ignore my question?"

"Sun," Blake interjected, signaling him not to be rude about this.

That's when he realized something. "Wait, did you just say, 'Panda Killer'?"

Blake realized that Sun wasn't there when Penny explained it to her and Ruby. "That's what he was called in Atlas. It's a long story." She then turned her attention to Penny. "Look, I appreciate it, but it's not your responsibility."

"I am an officer of the law!" Penny replied. "Of course, it's my responsibility!"

"I know, but… this is our case now. You may have apprehended him in Atlas, but we're on this one now. Besides, shouldn't you be working on the 'Cinder' case with Ruby and Ren?"

"If you wait like I fear you might, he'll strike again! I know it! This may not be his M.O., but that sadistic streak couldn't be anyone but him."

"It's not like we wouldn't want to go after him, but Ozpin hasn't given us the go-ahead unless we have proof that it's him and we don't even know where to look for him. Look, I appreciate the help, but we can handle this."

"And how will you be expected to perform at full capacity when your partner is injured? That makes him vulnerable."

Sun sighed and griped, "I'm right here, you know."

Blake shook her head before continuing to talk to Penny. "Penny, don't stress yourself out about it. We can take care of him." Penny was somewhat dejected, but she still returned to her own desk as they returned to theirs.

 

* * *

 

"WHAT?!" Cinder shouted as she flipped her desk, startling Mercury.

The man simply looked at the mess left on the floor and said, "I'm not cleaning that up." If he was honest with himself, he wasn't sure how to react. He just told her what he did with Salem and the reaction was just about what Salem had told him to expect.

"Why does she have to keep doing this?!" What happened next was what surprised Mercury. Cinder shrunk behind the overturned desk as if she was taking cover from gunfire. He went around and saw Cinder holding her head with a manic look in her eye. "I fucking hate her," she kept muttering. "What does she even want out of me?"

"Are… you okay?"

Cinder's gaze snapped right to Mercury and shouted, "Shut up! Just shut up!" She stood up and got in his face. "My problem is that fucking bitch toying with me because she knows how I feel about her!"

"What are you talking about?" She turned away from him and slammed her head against the wall. "Seriously! What's the fucking problem? What is it between you two?"

"I can't say anything," she quietly replied.

That response infuriated Mercury. "You've gotta be kidding me. Don't give me that secretive bullshit! Ever since you found out she was here, you've been acting like a crazy person! What is so goddamn stressful about that old lady that's making you act like some sort of –"

He didn't get to finish his sentence when she backhanded him out of nowhere and grabbed him by the throat. She slammed him against the wall and raised her hand as if she was about to claw his face off. It was in that moment when she realized what Mercury was talking about. He didn't even flinch as she stared her down, but she looked at her free hand and saw it trembling. She wasn't the same controlled woman that had been known for, and upon realizing what she was becoming, she released Mercury and took some deep breaths. "You're right… This isn't me."

"Well, I never said that. That's totally you. You just don't show it off as much." Cinder slapped him again. "Yeah, fine. I deserved that."

Cinder paced away from him. "She wants me to get worked up over this. That's the idea in her eyes. She just wants me to be freaking out like this."

"Why would she do that?"

"Because she just likes toying with me. Ever since she…" Cinder trailed off, refusing to divulge that memory. Mercury could tell she was hiding something. "She just wants me stressed about the fact that she's coming."

"I mean, the least she could do is tell you when she's coming. Is the suspense of not knowing part of how she decides to troll you?"

"She would've just shown up if she wanted to surprise me. No, she wants me to know…" The realization hit her like a bullet. "Son of a bitch."

"What?"

"She wants me to invite her over."

"…You're kidding."

"I wish I was."

"Well, I guess she doesn't know where you're hold up, so she'd need you to –"

"She knows exactly where I am." Mercury raised an eyebrow. "These are the things she just knows. It's what she does. She could come over at any time. It's just that she wants to be appreciated."

If anything, this explanation was more cryptic that everything before it. However, he felt that it would be the most explanation that he'd get. "Okay, then… so, go see her yourself. I can tell you where she's staying."

"No. If she wants to play the proxy game, then I'm not giving her the satisfaction of getting me to go to her. Go see her and tell her to meet me at eleven o'clock tomorrow night. Non-negotiable. And you keep tabs on her to make sure she doesn't try to skip out on this."

"Got it."

"And go find someone to clean all this up," she said, pointing at the mess left by flipping the desk. Mercury nodded and left the room, leaving Cinder to sit in her chair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **FUN FACTS:**  
>  * I realized that Jerry Stanfield is pretty close to looking like Jerry Seinfeld. It's not what I was going for, but the resemblance was a bit entertaining to me.  
> * I had Cardin in charge of the decoy convoy because I realized that he hasn't been doing a lot of cop work despite being a cop. Even corrupt cops have jobs to do, so I just had to make sure he was actually doing something that pertains to his legitimate job.  
> * I'll be honest and say that the real reason Ruby didn't say the dealer's name out loud is... I don't even know what it is yet. Yeah... This may surprise you, but I don't have every single detail of this story planned out yet. Several things in this chapter alone were changed around from what I originally had in mind. And many things I had planned for the next chapter were originally planned to happen in Chapter 12. Don't worry. I'm sure I'll have it figured out by next chapter.  
> * With the scene between Blake, Sun, and Ozpin, I really wanted to get back to an aspect about the story that mighnightandmoon hit on a while back, getting more into the politics behind police work, an element I especially enjoyed incorporating.
> 
> I hope you're all enjoying the story so far. I'm really looking forward to posting the next chapter. :D  
> As always, leave a comment and let me know what you think. I always enjoy reading them.


	14. Finally Getting Things in Order Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sun and Blake consider how they'll catch Tyrian again, Ironwood and Sienna begin their debate, and Cinder finally meets with Salem.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is one I've been looking forward to for a long time. I hope you enjoy it.
> 
> Just a specific note, the whole chapter takes place on the same day.

Ruby, Ren, and Penny were preparing to go to investigate the dealer that Blake mentioned. His name was Mickey, one of the small-time, secondhand arms dealers that were supplied by Cinder. He was one of the customers that bought in bulk from Cinder or another seller before him and distributed them to individuals. "So, that's the number we need to call?" Ren asked.

"Yes," Ruby replied, "and you'll probably need to call them when you're not in the precinct. We don't want any clues giving away who you really are." Penny seemed spaced out, but still tried to listen. Ruby realized this. "Penny?"

"Hm?" she replied.

"Are you listening?"

"Of course, Sergeant. I was just contemplating our plan of attack."

"Well, first we need to meet the guy."

"And I'm guessing we'll send Ren in undercover to find Cinder. Right?"

Ren rebuked, "Considering the fact that Cinder has found out the last three officers we sent undercover, we're not doing this to get close to her operation."

"Oh…" Penny looked away as they kept talking, but she noticed that Blake and Sun were leaving together. It gave her an idea. "Hey, you guys can go on without me for this, I'll be going elsewhere."

Ruby looked disappointed. "What? I was kinda hoping you'd stay behind for the paper-run. It helps if we have more hands on this."

"I'm sure you'll do fine without me. You two just do your darn best to get it done." With that, Penny rose from her seat and left the precinct. "I know you will!"

Ruby and Ren were at a loss for words. "Okay… What the hell do you think she's off to do?"

Ren shrugged and said, "As far as I know, she's out seeing her significant other or something. Who knows?"

"I guess we're on our own for this one."

"No different from before she got here."

"Fair enough. So, I'm guessing going shopping will be up to you?" They had to use some code phrases to make sure anyone listening wouldn't be able to tell what was happening.

"It would make more sense. He'll trust me and I'll get what we need."

"Great! Now all that's left is… the boring part."

"I'm guessing you won't wanna cramp up your hand again."

"I mean, I'll still have this," Ruby said as she started flicking her tongue seductively. Ren knew exactly what she meant. "I was hoping that this would go by a little faster, though. I'd rather be out on the street protecting people rather than being stuck doing the paperwork."

"Maybe next time." The two began writing up the necessary reports they needed to fill out for their investigation.

 

* * *

 

Ironwood looked over his notes to make sure he was prepared to combat any concerns that Khan might've raised. He stood at his podium with Sienna standing next to him. As the crowd trickled in, he was nervous about making sure things went well, but he never let it show. Sienna was feeling the same way considering this is the first official political event she has participated in. Still, she kept her fierce expression. She refused to show any sign of weakness in the face of her opponent. She was used to larger crowds, so that part wouldn't be an issue.

The moderator came onstage and the crew began setting up the cameras. "Hello, everyone," the moderator began. "Welcome to the Vale mayoral debate. I will be your moderator for today, Jeffery Andrews. Today with me are our two candidates, and I'll let them take a moment to introduce themselves."

Ironwood adjusted the position of his mic. "Hello, everyone," he said, "You all know me, James Ironwood, and I am running for reelection as your mayor of Vale. Now, I must say that many of you may seem disillusioned by my current administration but let me be perfectly clear. I have been doing everything I can to clean up this city. I have been faithfully serving Vale for years now. First as a senator, and now as a mayor. No one knows better than I do about the problems plaguing this city. Now, I may not have solved all of them, but if you are willing to offer me a second chance, I will diligently continue my work towards making great."

"Thank you, Mr. Mayor," Andrews said.

Ironwood stepped back and allowed his opponent to talk. Sienna collected her composure and began to speak. "Good evening," she said. "My name is Sienna Khan. You may not be as familiar with me as my opponent. And because of that, I'll let you know a few things. For one, if you're looking for an experienced politician, you won't find that with me. But if you're looking for someone who will genuinely fight for your rights, that is what I can be for this city. I want to make sure that mob corruption doesn't influence any political decisions. And I will be dedicating my time to working with the police to make sure that the organized crime problem that has been plaguing this city will be rid of once and for all. I want to help the common citizen by giving them living wages and lowering taxes for the middle class. I'm not going for political points. I run an honest campaign. I won't sugarcoat any of my policies. I don't want you to vote for some engineered version of myself. I want you to vote for me. And if you elect me, I'll work towards passing all the promises I present in my campaign."

The crowd seemed more impressed by Sienna's introduction, concerning Ironwood. It helped Sienna get over her initial hesitation. "Thank you, Ms. Khan," Andrews replied. "Now, we will begin with a question specifically for Ms. Khan and a rebuttal from Mr. Ironwood. And please allow the opponent to finish their response without interrupting. You'll have one minute to answer your question." Both candidates nodded. "Now, Ms. Khan, you said yourself that you aren't an experienced politician. For someone who has never even held any kind of political office, how can you assure people that you are right for this job?"

"I'll let you all decide if I'm right for the job. That's what this debate is for. I want help reform this government and help the people of Vale. All I can assure you that I will be doing everything that I can to make that happen. I may not have the experience, but I am determined to improve things in this city. Taking people out of poverty, removing corrupt officials, and ending the reign of organized crime in this city."

"And Mr. Ironwood, do you have any rebuttals to that?"

Ironwood took a sip of water and cleared his throat. "Well," he began, "I would warn Ms. Khan that the job is much more difficult than you might think. Having the political experience would help enact your plans efficiently. I'm not saying that you cannot do it, but it might not be as easy as you think." Sienna glared at him and tried to hide the contempt that she had for his response.

 

* * *

 

After the debate, Weiss decided to congratulate Sienna on the excellent job she did. "Sienna!" she called out.

The candidate turned to Weiss and walked over to her. "Schnee," she replied. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, considering you're the candidate I'm funding, I thought it would be a good idea to come here and congratulate you on your job-well-done at the debate."

Sienna smirked. "I feel like you're invested in this more than just financially."

"Honestly, I'm just glad you're doing well."

"And you don't disagree with any of my stances?"

"Would I still be giving you ridiculous amounts of money if I did?"

Sienna chuckled. "Fair point, Schnee. And it seems like Ironwood's days are numbered now. He seemed pretty nervous about going against me."

"And you weren’t nervous?"

"Are you kidding? That was fucking terrifying." Sienna's comment made Weiss laugh. "But, at least I'm prepared for everything else."

"Awesome. Well, just let me know if you need any more funds. My assistant should already be sending you your first payments to get money for ads and yard signs."

Sienna sighed. "Never in my life did I think I'd be on this side of things."

"Life has a funny way of things working out like that."

"Speaking of which," they heard a voice say. They turned around and saw Qrow approaching them. "Nice to see you again, Schnee."

"Same to you, Branwen."

He directed his attention to Sienna. "And congrats on the debate, rookie."

However, Sienna didn't seem too enthused about his compliment. She replied, "Shouldn't you be kissing Ironwood's ass to make him feel better right now?"

Qrow chuckled. "I mean, it's not like I'm invested in his campaign. Besides, you really schooled him in that debate, so I have to give you props for that. Besides, we might be working together soon."

"Hmph. Very well. Thank you for the compliment."

"Hey, I know you might think of my sister when you think of the Branwens but trust me. No one hates her more than I do." And that wasn't necessarily a lie.

"Then consider it my duty to take her off the streets for good."

Qrow smirked. "You're alright, Khan."

"Thanks. Now, if you'll both excuse me, I have other places to be. Thanks for coming, Schnee."

As Sienna left, Qrow said, "I should be on my way as well."

"Wait," Weiss said, stopping Qrow in his tracks. "I was wondering if you might not be working with Ironwood soon, maybe we could do something together. I think that we could really do some great business together. Maybe we could discuss something later."

 _Shit_ , Qrow thought. The last thing he needed was Schnee looking through his finances. "Well, that sounds like a great offer, but I'm going to have to pass on that."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Just way to busy right now. Maybe some other time." Wasting no time, Qrow started walking away. "You have a good night, Schnee!"

Weiss was a little confused. She usually didn't get turned down for business deals. It wasn't like it never happened, but it was a surprise when it did happen. And something about this particular rejection didn't seem right to her.

 

* * *

 

Blake and Sun were out on the hunt, looking for any possible clues as to where Tyrian could be. "I can't believe this," Sun shouted. "We can't go after this madman because we don't have the fucking proof that he's connected to our victims?"

"That's how the law works," Blake answered. "I wouldn't try to get in the way of that."

"Come on! I know you're not okay with letting this go. Why don't we both just go after this ass-clown and deal out some justice?"

"You know that it's not that simple. You've been a cop long enough to know that."

As they walked past a store, a man was standing in the front and checking out Blake. "Hey, beautiful," he called out, causing her to roll her eyes. "That's a mighty fine ass you got there."

Sun turned back and shouted, "Dude, she's a lesbian!"

As they continued down the street, Blake smiled and said, "Thanks."

"No problem."

"Now you see what I was talking about a few days ago."

"Yeah, I see your point. Anyway, about Callows, why are we just letting Ozpin stop us from going after him."

"He's our boss. We don't have much of a choice if we wanna keep our jobs."

Sun scoffed. "This is so fucking dumb."

"Honestly, I wish it were different, too. I wanna catch this guy, but unless you have a way to do it where we can both keep our jobs and not break the law and go vigilante on him, then be my guest." Blake then realized that Sun wasn't by her side. She looked behind her and saw that he stopped. "Sun?"

"I just realized something. Remember that lawyer that came to represent him?"

"Yeah."

"Well, what if he's cooperating with him? What if he's somehow responsible for Callows getting out?" Blake raised an eyebrow. "Or, at the very least, whoever sent him might be responsible for it. I mean, what friends would this guy have?"

She had to admit that he had a point. "So, what? Are you saying that we should be looking into the lawyer?"

"Or whoever he works for."

"That'll be almost impossible. There's no way that a defense attorney would break attorney-client privilege on an assumption."

"Well, that's definitely something to bring to Ozpin. How about it?"

Blake sighed. It would be a longshot, but it's not like they had much else to do about it besides aimlessly wander around the city. "I think…" However, something caught her eye. A man walking down the street seemingly familiar. "I think…" Upon closer inspection, she couldn't believe what she was seeing. "I think we just found the guy we're looking for."

Sun had a quizzical expression. Blake pointed behind him. When he turned around, he couldn't believe what he was seeing either. Tyrian walking down the street at night carrying some large bag. "Holy shit. That couldn't be him."

"Well, either it's some random lookalike or we are two of the luckiest people imaginable tonight. You got your gun?"

"Of course, I have my gun."

"Then let's go get him." Blake and Sun approached Tyrian with their hands near their guns, ready to draw them if he gave them any trouble. "Excuse me!" Tyrian looked up and saw the officers. "Tyrian Callows. Shouldn't you be in an institution right now?"

Tyrian knew he was in trouble. Hazel would never let him hear the end of it. He put on a good smile and tried to be friendly. "Oh, indeed," he replied. "However, the facilitators at the institution had assessed that I have been deemed mentally sound now. It indeed was an arduous process; however, I am glad to know that I am a reformed individual."

"Heh. That's funny because the asylum said that you had escaped the facility. And before you give me an excuse, I mean that you unlawfully got out of custody." She heard the excuse that an escapee says that they "escaped" after being released.

"Well, I know this might appear to be a nefarious situation, but suspicion is not required."

Sun was fed up with the question-dodging. "Alright, motherfucker," he shouted, "cut the shit. We know someone busted you out, so don't try anything funny."

Tyrian chuckled. "I'd hardly refer to this situation as humorous."

"Then how about you tell us what's in this bag?"

"Nothing of your concern."

"Really?" Tyrian nodded. "Then open it."

"Present a warrant, and I'll comply."

Blake rebuked, "Okay, sure. Well, how about this? You can come to the station with us since you're not even supposed to be released."

"Unbelievable. I'm aware of my rights!"

"So, are you resisting arrest?"

"I… uh… no." He already knew he was running out of options, so he had to think quickly.

However, Blake wasn't having any of it. "Alright. Then drop the bag and put your hands above your head." She pulled out her handcuffs, and Sun kept his hand near his gun to make sure Tyrian didn't try anything. "Sun, call it in." Tyrian complied for now as Sun got on his radio. The bag fell to the ground and he held his hands up in the air. As she approached, she could already smell something was up. "Ugh! What are you carrying in there? Manure?"

"No. It's… a special kind of fertilizer." To his credit, he wasn't wrong.

"Really? So, you use corpses for gardening?"

Tyrian giggled. "Whatever are you –?"

"Don't bullshit me," she replied, putting his hands behind his back. "Being a homicide detective for as long as I have, you tend to familiarize yourself with the unique stench of dead people."

"Then," she replied as she prepared the cuffs, "I guess you won't mind this." Suddenly, Tyrian dropped a blade from his sleeve and slashed at her. She dodged quickly enough to avoid getting stabbed, but she failed to keep up with his lightning-fast strikes. She blocked what she could and got some hits in, but one slash to her thigh got her down.

Sun had his gun pointed at him as he waited for an opening. When Blake got cut, he screamed, "Blake!" Tyrian was able to retreat into the alley before Sun could get a few shots off. Sun went back to Blake to help her.

She held the wound and said, "Just get Callows!"

"Got it. Hang in there, Blake." His shoulder was still a bit sore from the recoil of his gun agitating his wound. Thankfully, Tyrian didn't get far enough to escape his sight. He sprinted after the murderer. "Get back here, you sick fuck!" The sound of his giggling irritated Sun to no end, but he had to resist shooting at him and making things more painful.

Tyrian taunted, "You'll never apprehend me, officer."

As the madman cackled, he was immediately taken down… but not by Sun. He was shocked to see him taken out by some random bystander, but it wasn't just anyone. It was Officer Polendina. "Penny?!" Sun shouted with wide eyes as she watched the girl pin him down and handcuff him.

"You're under arrest, Panda Killer," she said as she roughly cuffed his hands behind his back and read him his rights.

"You, bitch!" he screamed at her.

Sun walked over to Penny as she watched him arrest the man. He asked, "What the fuck are you doing here?"

Penny answered, "I was out looking for Mr. Callows as well. Thankfully, I heard the gunshots and found my way to intercept your perp. Just my luck, it was this scoundrel." She picked Tyrian up and brought him along. _I guess we weren't the only lucky ones_ , Sun thought. "How's your arm, detective?"

"Uh… kinda weird feeling, but I'll be fine."

"And your partner?"

When Tyrian giggled (which was promptly cut off by Penny shoving him), Sun remembered what happened. "Shit! Blake!" He ran back to find Blake trying to limp all the way to find them, even with the bag on her. "Blake! What the hell are you doing?"

She dropped the bag and collapsed before saying, "You think I was just gonna stay on the side of the street."

Sun helped apply pressure to her wound. "Yeah, that makes sense. Why stay where you were when you can follow me through a dark alley carrying a heavy bag. I'm sure you won't lose a significant amount of blood or anything or get any infections from whatever shit that could be festering behind these buildings."

"Quite reckless," Penny said while taking Tyrian with her?

Blake was startled. "Wait! Penny?!" Penny nods. "What the hell are you doing here? I told you that you didn't have to help us."

"To be fair, if I wasn't already looking for him, you wouldn't have caught him at all."

Sun stated, "She does have a point."

Blake sighed and then thought that they were right. They wouldn't have caught him otherwise. She smiled and said, "I guess so. Thanks, Penny."

Penny replied, "No need to thank me. It is my duty after all."

"Well, we should try to go back to the station. Sun, hold the bag. Penny, you hold the suspect. And I'll hold my cut."

Penny giggled at Blake's joke as they went back to where they found Tyrian. Blake had already radioed for a squad car to come to pick them up.

 

* * *

 

Weiss sat on her couch, thinking about how to break the news to Neptune about calling off the wedding. She was still shaken by the idea of finally admitting that she lied to him for so long. However, she was also thinking about why Qrow would want to decline her offer. Something just didn't seem right about it. Glynda entered the apartment while Weiss was watching some news. "Well," Glynda began, "I didn't ever expect you to get so involved in politics. I'm rather impressed, Ms. Schnee."

"Thank you," Weiss replied in a somber tone.

Glynda noticed her tone. "Still thinking about Mr. Vasillias?"

"Not just that. I was spending some time talking to Mr. Branwen. It seemed like he was acting a bit weird when I asked him to do some business with him."

"That seems like an issue for another time, doesn't it?"

Weiss shrugged. "It still doesn't seem wise to ignore it. He said he wasn't involved with his sister, but he starts acting suspiciously as soon as I wanna work with him."

"I guess that appears to be odd."

"I don't know. Maybe I'm being paranoid, but I guess there's something to it."

"Well, worrying about Branwen won't really be productive if you're going to help Ms. Khan with her campaign."

"I'm only funding. You know that."

"Very well. And as for Mr. Vasilias' knowledge of the arrangement."

"I'll talk to Neptune!" she shouted. "I just need some time to… think about this."

"You've spent enough time thinking about it. You know damn well that it'll only get more difficult if you keep waiting."

"I know, I know." Weiss sighed and rubbed her temples. That's when her phone started ringing. She picked it up and looked at who was calling. "Speak of the devil." She answered the phone. "Hey, Neptune."

"Weiss," he replied. "You didn't tell me you were helping someone run for mayor! That's awesome!"

Weiss smiled. "Well, it was kind of on a whim, so I just went for it. Sorry for not telling you sooner." Glynda cleared her throat and Weiss shot a glance at her disapproving glare. She knew what Glynda was thinking and the irony was not lost on Weiss.

"That's okay. I know you're quite the busy woman."

"That… actually brings me to another thing I wanna tell you."

"What's that?"

"It… well…" She just couldn't say this over the phone. She didn't want to just break up with him like this. He didn't deserve that. "It's kind of important and I'd really prefer to say it to you in person."

"Really? What could it possibly be?"

"Trust me. It's better if you see me."

"Okay. I'll be coming over tomorrow. Just gotta finish recording my new album."

"Alright. I'll see you tomorrow." She hung up and buried her face in her hands and muttered some swear words under her breath.

Glynda looked down at Weiss. "You're really bringing him all the way over just to confess?"

"He doesn't deserve to be broken up with over a phone call. I need to face him for this."

"Rather bold, Ms. Schnee."

"Well… this is a rather bold choice to make."

 

* * *

 

In the evening, Lydia was helping Cassie with her math homework. "Do you understand?" Lydia asked.

"I think so," Cassie replied. "So, three-sevenths divided two-fifths equals…" She pokes the paper with her pencil as she labors over the question. "Equals…"

"Just take a moment to think about it. How do you start?"

"Uh… you… turn the second one upside down…"

"Right. Then?"

"You multiply them!"

"Exactly!" Lydia beamed as she watched the girl finish the problem. That's when Hazel walked into the house.

"Daddy's home!" Cassie jumped up and ran toward Hazel.

Hazel picked up Cassie and kissed her cheek. "Hey, sweetheart."

Lydia called out, "Hey! Cassie, get your homework done."

"You're not done with your homework?" Cassie pouted to try and sway him. "You know you need to finish it."

Cassie whined, "But it's fractions!"

"Cassie," he replied in a stern voice.

"Fine," she answered, going back to the table with her mother.

The rest of the evening was rather uneventful for them. They had dinner, Hazel washed the dishes, and Lydia put Cassie to bed. Lydia went to her husband and kissed him on the lips. "How long until you end this?" she asked.

Hazel sighed before somberly replying, "It's not exactly very simple."

"Dammit, Hazel. You've gotta know when you can get this done. I can't keep this up forever."

"You think I want to keep doing this? I want to stop this just as much as you do, but I want more than anything to save our little girl."

"I know, but… is it worth it?"

Hazel looked away. He honestly didn't have an answer for that, and Lydia could tell. It was written plainly on his face. The silence hung over them for a moment before Hazel's phone started ringing. He answered it immediately. "Hello?"

"Hazel," Watts answered, "we need you to come in immediately. It's rather important."

"Okay," he flatly replied before hanging up.

"Let me guess," Lydia said. "Is it work?"

Hazel nodded. "I wish there was another –"

"Go. Just go. But promise me one thing." Now, Hazel was concerned with what she was going to say to him. "Promise me… that you'll find a way to save Cassie."

Hazel gave a melancholy smile before hugging his wife. "I promise."

 

* * *

 

Ruby and Ren finished the last of the paperwork they needed to fill out. "Finally!" Ruby exclaimed. "All finished, and we still have an hour left in our shift."

"I think it helps," Ren replied, "That we started all of this in the afternoon instead of just before the shift was over might be the reason for that."

"Forgive me for wanting to make sure we get to our investigations as soon as possible."

Ren chuckled at the comment, just before he saw something rather interesting. "Holy shit."

Ruby looked up and saw Penny bringing in Tyrian with Sun helping Blake walk. "Blake!" Ruby ran over to her when she saw that she had been injured. "What happened?!"

"Ruby," she gently replied, "it's not as bad as it looks. I'll be fine."

"Yeah," Sun added, "it's not like she got shot or anything." Blake just rolled her eyes.

Ruby looked up and saw Penny returning. "So," Ruby began, "This is what you were off doing?"

"Officially, I was off-duty," Penny explained, "so that doesn't really cause any conflict of interest. I had clocked out just before going to find him. Had I not been there, they might have lost him."

"Well, good job, Penny. And Sun?" Sun looked down at her. "Thanks for making sure Blake stayed safe."

Sun answered, "I mean, she is my partner."

"Alright, enough chit-chat," Penny declared. "We need to get Callows through processing." Ruby allowed the three to take care of their suspect.

 

* * *

 

Cinder waited for Salem to come to her. She got Mercury's message that he was bringing the woman to her and she continued to dread it. It wasn't long before the old woman was brought to her. Much older than when she last saw her, but otherwise exactly as she remembered her. Cinder looked to her guards and said, "Everyone else leave until I call you back in."

The guards were skeptical of this decision. One of them made the mistake of asking, "Are you sure?"

"Did I fucking stutter?! Get out!" Salem smiled at the girl's authority, a smile that only managed to irritate Cinder. As the guards left, Cinder's expression did not change as the elder woman took her seat. Salem pointed to the door and Cinder knew what she was asking. "They won't be able to hear us in here."

This caused Salem's smile to grow more. "Hello, Kenna."

It was a name she hadn't heard in a long time. Salem was the one who helped her get rid of all traces to her birth name. Still, Cinder had no resentment towards it. She knew that it was dangerous if someone were able to connect her to the name. She was willing to embrace it if it were safe to use it. However, she and Salem were the only two who knew it. And Kenna still has some issues with this woman to work out.

Kenna sighed before replying, "Hello, mom."

"I must say," Salem began, "I'm proud of how much you've grown. You have become a very strong and beautiful woman. And your empire is thriving. Not to mention, that nice boy, Mercury. I must say, he is one damn fine man. You're lucky he's good for carrying out hits and good in the sack."

Kenna knew this was all to butter her up, and she was having none of it. "What do you want?"

"Can a mother not visit her daughter just see how she's doing? It has been a long time."

"And I would've preferred it to be longer."

Salem chuckled as if this was all amusing. "So hostile." She rose from her chair and walked around to the side of the desk. "Have you not remembered all the things that I've done for you?"

"I remember all the things you've done **to** me. Trying to brainwash me and turn me into what you wanted."

Salem guffawed at the insinuation. "While I'm flattered that you think of me as such an inspiration on you, you know damn well that all I did was encourage what was already there. Might I remind you of all those dead rabbits I found in your room when you were eleven?" Kenna looked away from her. "Most young girls would be playing with Barbie dolls, but not you. You were unique. It was almost adorable watching you chase after them to trap them. You killed them all in different ways, but you remember the time I caught you. I saw you take that cup of oil and a box of matches. That's when I knew what I needed you to do."

"Kill my father." Salem nodded. "Why did you force me to do that?"

"Oh, is that how you remember it?"

"That's how it happened!"

"Kenna, calm down. You and I both know how it really happened. I told you about the true nature of my business. And what did you do when you heard that?" Kenna refused to say anything. "Did you get scared? Did you say, 'you're a bad person, mommy'? Did you try to get me arrested? No. You told me, 'I wanna help you. It seems like fun.' That's when I needed to know if you could kill people. Rabbits and squirrels are a small step, but human beings? Very different. So, I knocked him out and tied him up, bringing him someplace no one would find us. I brought in a variety of tools that you could use. Even had your favorite. A box of matches and a bottle of kerosene."

"And then you told me I had to torture him."

"You give too much credence to my influence. I told you that your father had to die that he knew this. I told you if you wanted to help me, you had to be the one to kill him. I had a gun with me if you couldn't manage to do it and I would've killed him myself. When I said the choice was yours… you didn't even hesitate to go for the tools I left out for you. Not even your father's cries for mercy stopped you." As much as she loathed to admit it, Kenna knew Salem was right. She loved every second of it. "By all accounts, Ellis was a decent man, but he would have never lasted long. I know why you want to blame me for it. You just want a reason to hate me. Admit it. You don't resent this life. You embrace it. You **thrive** in it. You’re excited by it – in more ways than one." Kenna looked away from Salem. "By all accounts, you should be thanking me for letting you embrace your potential. Yet you continue this pointless defiance of me. How childish it is that you'd do that, Kenna-doll."

Kenna was furious with the use of that name. "Don't call me that!"

"Why not?" Kenna didn't respond. Soon, Salem seemed to figure out what that reason was. "Oh, I get it. You're still upset about what happened after that."

"It wasn't long after."

Salem’s smile finally disappeared. "It was three years later, Kenna," she responded in a stern tone.

"And you think that makes it any better, **Emily**?!" The pale woman's eyes widened slightly at the use of her real name. "Oh, I'm sorry. Am I not allowed to use your name anymore? You were quite insistent on me calling you that."

"If there's something you want to say, it seems rather pointless to keep beating around the bush." Kenna huffed in frustration as Emily sat on the desk, leaning in closer to her daughter. "Don't tell me you didn't enjoy it." Emily's smirk returned as she gently tilted her daughter's chin up to look her in the eye. "Those late nights together."

"I was fifteen."

"And you lost your virginity at fourteen. Don't think I didn't notice you bringing your boyfriends home to 'entertain' them." Kenna scoffed. "I only wanted to open up some extra possibilities. You didn't seem to have much of a problem with it."

"I didn't know what else to do."

"You say that like it was an obligation."

"It may as well have been. What was it you said to me the first time? 'Make me feel how your father used to and I'll make you feel the same way.' Sound familiar?"

"And you did an excellent job of it, my dear. Didn't I please you in return?" Kenna couldn't stand her mother's coquettish smirk. "I also see that you've grown a cup-size or two since I last saw you." Emily immediately went for her daughter's breasts and Kenna froze as the older woman copped a feel. But it didn't last longer a second before she pushed her mother's hand away. "All natural. That's good to know. What are they? C-cup?"

Kenna reluctantly answered, "D."

"To think you're almost as well-endowed as I am. I was afraid you wouldn’t since you didn’t even make it into a B-cup until after high school. Now, look at you. I gave you some good genes, didn't I?"

"Well, the fact that you didn't give me the one that makes me look like a ghost certainly helps."

Emily's smile dropped. She never liked it when Cinder decided to bring up her fair skin as an insult. She was proud of every aspect of her. Opinions of those who thought otherwise were simply untrue in her eyes. This led to Emily slapping her in the face. Kenna jumped out of her seat and lunged at her mother, only to have her wrist grabbed. Emily took the chance and kissed her daughter. “Don’t you dare forget who provided for you. You made your empire on your own merit – something I’m proud of you for – but I’m the one who taught you the skills necessary for it.” Emily released her and had a gentler expression. “I did love you, Kenna. I still do.”

“You certainly had an odd way of showing it.” Emily’s lips went in a flat line. “Can you just answer my first question already, mom? Why are you here?”

“I figured you’d need some help with watching over the VPD. Considering the fact that I have been successful in erasing the Carter family from all records, I might be beneficial in assisting you. I’ll admit that your little stunt with the rocket launcher was impressive, but the fact that you rely on spies shows that you don’t have enough expertise to keep tabs on everything. I have a team of experts ready to set up full-time surveillance to the precinct.”

Kenna scoffed. “That’s bullshit. I know you didn’t spend your time tormenting me for the last few days just to say you were going to provide tech support.” Emily’s expression gave away that there was more to her visit, and her daughter noticed. “Be honest, mom. What’s the real reason you’re here?”

“I’m dying, Kenna.” Kenna’s eyes widened. “Terminal cancer. I was diagnosed fairly recently, but there’s not much they can do about it. Funny how after all these years, I thought I’d be killed by either you or one of my rivals. And the thing to finally do me in is my own body turning against me.” The young woman was surprised to know this, but she was conflicted about how to feel. “I’ll only be alive for a few more months. Since I figured I’d be dead long before this, I’m not taking any treatment to postpone my death. Only on the trip here just to make sure I got to deliver this message, but once I leave Vale, I won't be taking it anymore. For criminals like us, maybe resting in peace will work, but it’s not like we have to die in peace.”

Kenna couldn’t think of what to say. “Why… why are you telling me this?”

Emily smiled. “Because it will be my final gift to you. I figured you would want to see me suffer as I took my last breath. After my passing, you will receive a video of my last moments. Something you can enjoy at my expense.”

“You’re allowing me to watch you die?” Emily nodded. “Why?”

“Because I love you. As a mother, I can’t help but love you. You may never return that love, but I will always give it to you. You have grown into a beautiful woman and I’m proud of what you have become. Even if your empire were to disappear tomorrow, I’d still love you.”

Kenna was speechless at her mother’s declaration. “This… was an act of love?!”

“Reject it all you want. I know my suffering will make you happy and that’s the only reason I’m doing it. Otherwise, you would have only learned of my death long after it happened. Maybe never. At least now, you will know what terrible fate I shall suffer. Once I set up the surveillance in the precinct, I will leave. And the only other time you’ll see me is in the posthumous recording of my death.”

Kenna wanted to be angry at her mother with every fiber of her being, but her mother was right. Watching her die would be a dream come true. The fact that she would leave her alone until then would be a bonus. The most she could do is suck it up for now and wait until she died. “Fine. Do whatever it is you’re gonna do, then leave me alone and die.”

"Slow down, Kenna. There's something I want you to do for me in return." Emily moved Kenna's hair behind her ear. Her daughter moved away from her. "Come on, Kenna. You were only a girl when we first had sex. Now that you're a woman…" Kenna pushed her away. "Don't be bashful. I'm sure you're quite beautiful. Can't I at least see how my lovely daughter has grown up?" Kenna glared at her. "Strip for me."

"No!"

Emily started to give a doe-eyed glance at her daughter. "Please?" Kenna only glared in response. Emily sighed. "Fine then. I guess we'll be going on to work on the surveillance." As soon as Emily tried to leave, Kenna grabbed her arm, stopping her from leaving the office. Kenna rose from her desk and stood in front of her mother. She hastily started removing her clothing, making her mother smile. She only stayed in her underwear, but she wasn't letting her mother control her body anymore. Emily walked closer as she inspected her daughter's body. "There you are…" She ran her palms along her daughter's breasts, thighs and butt. Relishing in the feel of their skin touching. She stood behind the girl. "My beautiful…" She kissed her neck, much to the dismay of Kenna. "…beautiful…" She kissed the other side of her neck as she wrapped her arms around her waist. "…Cinder."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **FUN FACTS:**  
>  * I spent some time trying to look up Mayoral debates to see how things were set up. I would've included a few more questions from the debate (and I might add some of those later), but I really wanted to get this chapter out tonight.  
> * There are a lot of things specific to Salem and Cinder that I want to bring up:  
> ** I know Emily and Kenna might sound a bit mundane, but there's some meaning behind the choices. "Kenna" actually means "born of fire," something somewhat appropriate for Cinder's favorite method of killing people. "Emily" actually comes from a word meaning "rival," fitting Cinder's perception of her.  
> ** In that same vein, "Ellis" actually means "kind" or "benevolent." Since he was the only one not involved in the illegal business, it fits him, too.  
> ** I also spent a lot of time searching through the effects of mother-daughter sexual abuse (much easier to find information than when I was researching for Qrow).  
> ** A lot of Salem's behavior comes from having Narcissistic Personality Disorder, something I had in mind from the moment I introduced her. In fact, part of her attraction to Cinder is because she comes from her own genes.  
> ** I kinda based Salem's characterization a little bit on Ragyo Kiryuin. (Anyone who knows her can see what elements I took from her.)
> 
> As always, I look forward to your comments. I might be taking a break from the story for now, but I'll be back to it soon.


	15. Relief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby begins looking into her lead while the mob tries to strategize for Khan's campaign.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait, but here goes nothing.

Hazel came to Torchwick's office to see what he wanted out of him this time. "You wanted to see me, sir?" he asked.

After Torchwick took a puff of his cigar and replied, "Yes. It's some good news for you. And I think you might be able to guess what it is."

As soon as he said that, Hazel's eyes lit up with joy when he realized what his boss was talking about. "You found a match?!"

"Dr. Watts just informed me that we got one."

Hazel was speechless at the news. "Thank you! Thank you, sir!"

"Yes, you'll soon be released from this job. All we have to do now is negotiate severance pay and how to get the kidney into the hospital system without people noticing. Are you sure you don't want to have Watts do it?"

"Cassie still doesn't know about this. I'd rather keep it that way."

"Very well. Just know that it might take some time before you can get the surgery. I'll get in contact with some of my men in the hospital and your kid will be good to go."

"Thank you, Mr. Torchwick. You have no idea how much this means to me."

"Yeah, yeah. You can spare me the mushy crap. We're just doing business here. I'm not offering to be your kid's godfather or anything."

Hazel's phone started ringing. "Hold on, I'll make this quick."

"You better."

Hazel stepped out and looked at the caller ID and didn't recognize it. He answered hesitantly. "Hello?"

"Thank God!" the man screamed in a hushed tone. Hazel rolled his eyes when he immediately recognized the voice as Tyrian's. "You have to help me! I've been detained, and the officers refuse to –"

"WHAT?! You got arrested?!"

"Yes! Tell Mr. Torchwick I must be released!"

"You got arrested and you were dumb enough to call me?! You goddamn idiot!"

"I at least used the number that you provided for your work phone! At least I'm not using your name! Just tell them that –"

Hazel didn't even bother to listen to whatever he had to say. He angrily hung up on him and stormed into Torchwick's office, slamming the phone on his desk. "You need to get rid of this phone."

"What happened?" Torchwick asked.

"That jackass Tyrian got himself arrested and was dumb enough to call me."

"Goddammit! You said he was good!"

"With the right direction, but clearly he decided to have more fun of his own."

Torchwick grumbled as he picked up the phone. "Alright, then I guess I need to work on getting this phone disconnected and destroyed before getting that kidney into the hospital."

"Fine." Hazel was furious. Not only did Tyrian get himself caught, but he made Torchwick delay getting his daughter a transplant.

 

* * *

 

Back at their apartment, Ruby decided that it would be nice to give Blake a back massage. So, not long after they returned, Blake was laying on the bed with Ruby rubbing into her back. She moaned as she felt her stress being rubbed away. "Thanks for this, Ruby," she said. "I really needed this."

"I bet. How's your cut doing?"

"It's not too bad. At least he missed any important arteries."

"Yeah, that definitely scared me."

"Maybe I should be massaging you since I ended up stressing you out."

"Are you kidding? I've been barely doing anything for the past few days. If anyone needs this, it's you."

Blake chuckled at the comment. "Well, at least let me do something that we both might enjoy."

"Is it gonna be something sexy?"

"Maybe…"

Ruby got excited at that prospect. Suddenly, they heard a knock on the door. "I got it." Ruby stood up to answer the door. When she opened it, she looked up to see an enormous man with a beard looking down at her. Blake's father, Ghira Belladonna. He and his wife Kali were local prosecutors and they supported Blake's career as a police officer despite the danger. They lived close by, so they visited often. "Oh, Ghira!"

"Hello, Ruby," he said as she let him inside. "Where is Blake?"

"She's in our room. I'll let her know." Ruby walked back to their bedroom and said, "Blake! Your dad's here!"

Blake remembered that her parents probably heard about her encounter with Tyrian and wanted to make sure she was still okay. "I'll be right out!" she yelled as she looked for a shirt. It wasn't long until she was greeting her father and hugging him. "Hey, dad."

"Blake," he said, "I'm glad to know you're safe. You're not in too much pain, are you?"

"No, I'll be fine. I just need to avoid putting too much stress on my leg for a while. Won't be getting into any more gunfights for the time being. I'm sure you're happy about that at least."

"What are you talking about? I'm proud that my little girl is out there protecting people. Risking your life is part of the job. I'm proud that you're risking your life for the safety of Vale. Of course, I'm glad that your safe right now, but I won't stop you from doing this job."

"Thanks, dad. I appreciate it."

"And the good news is that we should be able to move forward with having that lunatic locked up for good."

"Actually, there's something I wanted to bring up about that case. The lawyer that got him out the first time – I think his name is Hart – you might wanna investigate him. I think he's got some shady backers."

"Hart…" Ghira stroked his beard as he tried to recall if he knew such a man. "I'll keep him in mind."

"Great." She kissed her father on the cheek. "Well, thanks for stopping by."

"Wait! I still had some time to stay behind. We didn't have a lot to do."

"Actually," Ruby replied as she clung to Blake's shoulder, "we were going to… uh… alone tonight…"

It took Ghira half a second to pick up on what she was implying. "Oh! Oh. Sorry about that. I understand."

"To be fair," Blake added, "if you really have as much time as you say, you could spend that time doing the same with mom."

Ghira chuckled and replied, "Very well. You have a good night."

He left their home and the wives held each other closer. "So," Ruby purred, "do you still wanna finish that massage or –"

Blake kissed her and pulled Ruby back into the bedroom. Blake replied, "Let's get started." Blake pulled off Ruby's shirt and started leaving kisses all over her torso.

 

* * *

 

Adam sat at his desk as he waited for two people he was expecting. He didn't want to be waiting there for people he didn't even know, but they said that they'd be necessary assets in his operation. It wasn't long until the two men entered his office. They looked like they were related and even had similar outfits. "Good evening, Mr. Taurus," the taller one said.

"Spare me the fucking pleasantries," Taurus replied. "Just tell me who you are and what you want with me."

"It's more about what you want with us."

Taurus pulled out his gun and aimed it at them. "You don't get to tell me what I want! So, cut the arrogance shit and tell me what you're doing here!"

They had expected that he was ill-tempered, but they didn't expect it to be this bad. However, they continued with their pitch. "My name is Corsac Albain. This is my brother, Fennic."

Fennic introduced himself by saying, "A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Taurus replied, "If only I could say the same right now. What do you guys want?"

"My brother and I were considering an employment opportunity with your operation. We might be able to fill a position that you've been lacking."

"And what position would that be?"

Corsac said, "If you needed to have someone assassinated, you would go with freelance hitmen. That's the difference between you and Cinder, who has her own personal hitman."

Fennic added, "However, whereas she would only have one, you could have the two of us. We could be doubly efficient compared to Mr. Black."

Taurus contemplated their proposal. "So, you expect to be hired by me?" he asked.

"If you would be so generous," Corsac replied.

 

* * *

 

Ruby went down the street to find her informant. He was a regular of hers and she considered him to be a friend. And she could usually find him by following a sound strongly associated with him: his famous trumpet. It didn't take long to find the well-dressed black man in shades playing the trumpet for a few pedestrians. He left his hat on the ground for tips, but he rarely got any. His name was Flynt Cole. If you needed to know something about the low-level criminals of Vale, he's the guy you go to.

As he finished his song, people dispersed, and he collected his earnings. Ruby walked up and added some more money to the pile just before he could empty it out. He looked up at the officer. "Rose," he said, elated to see her, "it's been too damn long!"

"Indeed, it has," she replied. "How's it going, Flynt? I see you're still performing on the streets."

"Yeah, turns out there ain't a lot of work for an ex-con. Doesn't help considering that I'm a bit too dark for people to consider it."

"Well, you've seen Sienna running for office. Maybe it'll help give you some credibility."

"That's what they said when Obama got in the White House. And yet, racism is alive and well."

Ruby sighed because she knew it was true. In fact, she even noticed the irony of him having a police officer as a friend. "Look, if there's anything I can do to help, you can always ask."

"Nah, man. I appreciate the offer, but I'm not taking any handouts. I gotta get myself back on my own feet."

"That's gonna be harder if you're still taking care of Neon. Speaking of which…"

"Yeah, she's still around. I'm tryin' to get her some help, but she doesn't really give two fucks about getting any. It's not like it'll do much if she don't want it."

"Well, I can only help you out so much with that."

Flynt shrugged. "So, what do you want? I know you didn't come here for a friendly chat. Who are you looking for?"

Ruby pulled out the sheet of paper from her pocket and showed it to Flynt. "This guy. Do you know him?"

Flynt took a close look at the name. "Yeah, I know Mick. Sells on the east end of the city. Although, most people don't like his prices since people would rather buy from you-know-who directly."

"I see."

"Lemme guess: you're tryin' to get to her through the supply chain? Good luck with that."

"Does he have a number?"

"Yeah. Dumbass doesn't even keep it protected. You'll find him pretty quick."

He took the paper and wrote a number on it. "Thanks, Flynt."

Suddenly, a random redheaded girl barely balanced on roller-skates rolled past them. Flynt stopped her. "Whoa there."

The girl was Neon Katt. She was out of a job and ended up going to raves at least three nights a week. It wouldn't be a problem in and of itself, but the fact that she used it as a way to avoid the reality of her situation made it troublesome. Flynt had tried his best to get her some help, but she never sought to go after another job. She kept giggling as Flynt held her. "Yay!" she exclaimed. "I wanna do that again. I'll go back, and you catch me."

Ruby asked, "Neon, are you high right now?"

The girl gave a spaced-out look at the officer as she said, "Nooooo…? Is it Tuesday?" Ruby sighed at the response. Neon giggled and said, "I'm perfectly low. Not high."

"Sure," Ruby sardonically replied. "Just to let you know, if you need a job, you can always work at the station."

"I'll be fine, dude. I can take care of shit."

Flynt commented, "Your current state begs to differ."

"Well, if you let me suck that big black cock of yours, I could change your mind."

"I ain't interested."

"Suuuuuure…"

He looked up at Ruby and said, "Speaking of which, how's Ren doing?"

"Still good and still taken."

He lowered his head. "Yeah, sorry about the shit I got him involved in."

"It's all water under the bridge at this point. You did your time."

"Well, tell him I wouldn't mind talking to him again. See you around, Rose. Lemme know if you need anything else." He took Neon back home with him.

 

* * *

 

Yang was on top of Mercury, grinding her hips into his as he held her rear. He figured if Cinder was going crazy, then this was his best option. And Yang was happy to oblige as usual. Mercury started sucking on her nipples as she picked up her pace. She moaned, "It's been so long… since I got a good fuck…"

Mercury replied, "Oh, yeah?"

"Mm-hm. You have no idea." And if Mercury was being honest, he was definitely looking forward to this, too. He picked her up and placed her on her stomach as he kept going from behind. "Ah… I'm gonna cum again…"

"That's what happens when you get a real man to fuck you." He spanked her hard with a smirk on his face. She moaned loudly as she orgasmed while Mercury fondled her breasts. However, he wasn't as lucky to finish at that moment when his phone started ringing. She saw that it was Cinder on the caller ID. Shit, he thought as he pulled out and snatched the phone off the nightstand. "Sorry, I gotta take this."

"Sure…" she replied, still coming down from the high of her orgasm.

Mercury rushed away and answered. "Look, can this wait? I'm busy right now."

"I need you back here now," Cinder replied, nothing but seriousness in her tone.

"I'm with someone right now!" he whispered, keeping his voice low around Yang.

"Is it that girl again?" Yang rolled on her back as she listened to the call. Something about Mercury's tone was different in that moment. "If so, finish up quickly and get over here now. And on your way, just remember how lenient I am with you and to not push your limits."

He knew that was a threat, and when Cinder was angry, you'd want to kill yourself before she got her hands on you. "Fine. I won't be long." I'm almost done anyway. He hung up and went back to Yang. "Sorry about that. Boss is busting my balls about something. Gotta head out soon."

Yang was even more suspicious of this boss. "Want a blowjob then? I'm tired out by now."

"You sure? I'm sure I could make you cum at least one more time."

"Nah. My legs are shaking as is. I won't be able to walk for half an hour if I cum again." _And I'll have to talk to that cop soon_ , she thought.

"Fine by me." He walked over and let her fellate him to completion, but she was still thinking about what his job really was.

 

* * *

 

Ruby, Penny, and Ren sat in Port's office, informing them more about their newest lead. "We'll need to set up a deal to meet him," Ruby said. "If we want to catch him in the act, then we'll have to get close."

"That's a rather bold risk," Port replied.

"One that's necessary to take. We just need to gain his trust to make sure he'll open up to us."

"And if that doesn't work?"

"Then we'll have to find a way to apprehend him that doesn't raise suspicions. To be fair, he's not a small player. We just need the small fish to catch the bigger fish."

"Well, technically," Penny began, "we'd probably need a worm to catch the fish. Which would be a more apt comparison for a low-level arms dealer."

"Point being," Ruby interrupted, "he's a potential path to catching Cinder. From there, we can take down the rest of the organized crime community."

Port sighed and said, "You've presented plenty of plans to get Cinder."

"And I'm not giving up until we have one that works for us. I know we've had plenty of failures, but that's not any of our faults. Cinder is trying to keep herself hidden. She's obstructing justice and we know it. We just need to make sure we find a way that she can't sabotage. I'm not going to claim that this is it, but it's not like dismissing it is the better option either. We need to try something."

"Hm. You're not wrong. Besides, nothing of worth was ever accomplished without effort."

"So, are we going ahead with this?"

"Indeed. Figure out how much his prices are, and we'll see if we can get the money pulled together. I'll contact the commissioner to let him know the plan. But you will not go without my say-so. Is that clear."

All three officers replied, "Yes, sir."

"You are dismissed."

As they walked out of the Commissioner's office, Penny was ecstatic about their new assignment. "Yes," she shouted. "Finally a chance to go undercover!"

"Slow down, Penny," Ren replied. "We still need to come up with the money to pay him. He's gonna be suspicious if we don't have anything to pay in return."

Penny hung her head down. "Drat. And I was getting excited for this, too."

"Don't worry," Ruby said. "We'll find the money. For now, we've got other cases to work on. There's still a whole city to clean up."

 

* * *

 

Weiss arranged for Neptune to meet her in the grand hall. Thanks to Glynda arranging it, no one was there at the moment and she wanted to take some time to practice playing some piano. It always soothed her to play music for as long as she could remember. Her beautiful song was interrupted by Neptune walking into the hall. "Beautiful as always," he said. She looked at her soon-to-be ex-fiancé.

Weiss rose from the bench. "Neptune," she announced. "I'm glad you made it here."

"Of course, I came. So, what is it you wanted to tell me?"

Weiss was incredibly nervous about this, but she knew she had to do it. "Um… can we go to a place more private?"

"Well, if you needed that, you probably should've chosen a different venue."

"I just… need a place to go that no one will hear us. Just follow me."

"Okay." As Weiss pulled Neptune along into a closet (And no, the irony was not lost on her.), she prepared herself to tell him the truth. "Are we gonna…" Neptune's smirk let her know exactly what he was thinking.

Weiss shook her head. "No. Not that. I… I really need to tell you that…" It took her all her will just to let out the truth. "Fuck," she muttered, looking away.

Now, Neptune was genuinely concerned. "Weiss?"

I just need to get this over with, she thought. Just like they said. She inhaled and finally said, "I'm really a lesbian." His eyes immediately widened at the revelation. "I'm a lesbian, and the real reason I agreed to marry you is the pressure from my parents to have grandkids. They wouldn't be happy about the fact that I didn't have a child for them."

"Are… are you serious?"

Weiss solemnly nodded. "I chose you because I thought it would be easy to tell you the truth, but… then you actually started falling in love with me. I thought you'd just be interested in sex, but you turned out to be a genuinely great guy. I mean, any girl who's into guys would be lucky to have you. But…"

"You're not one of them."

"No… I'm so sorry for lying to you. I'm really sorry to have to tell you this. I… I admit I was cheating on you while I was here, and I feel like shit for doing that. I just didn't know how to tell you the truth about me. I honestly don't know how to apologize enough to make up for all of this. I didn't wanna break up with you over the phone. You don't deserve that. I needed to tell you face to face." Neptune stepped back to digest this revelation. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. It's just… kind of a lot to take in."

"I know how bad it seems, but I really –"

"No, no. I… I understand. I get it." To Weiss' surprise, he seemed to be taking it rather well. "I mean, It's kind of like… a punch in the stomach…"

"Yeah, I'm not feeling great about it either."

"…but if this is who you really are… then I'll get behind it. And, I'm really sorry you had to hide who you were because of your parents."

"So, you're not mad?"

He shook his head. "No. I can't be mad at you for that. I guess that explains why you didn't have sex with me that often."

She quietly chuckled. "To give you credit, you are pretty good at giving head. And literally, any girl would be lucky to have that."

He chuckled as well. "Well… so what now?"

"I'll have to tell my parents about this before I announce that the wedding is off."

"We could still go through with it. I'm fine with going along with it to help you –"

"No, no. I'm not lying to my parents anymore. Besides, I won't have much time while helping Sienna's campaign. I appreciate it, but I can't go on with this anymore."

"That's fair. So… are you ready to get out of this closet?"

"Yeah, I definitely could've picked a better place to have this conversation."

"Just one question… were you sleeping with Goodridge?"

Weiss smirked. "No, but definitely not for lack of trying."

 

* * *

 

Cinder sat at her desk, working on her laptop. She was finally rid of Salem for now, so she could finally focus on important matters. She just needed some time to clear her head and get back her control over everything. She heard a knock on the door and Mercury saying, "Hey, it's me."

"Come in," she replied as she continued working on her computer.

"Are you feeling okay?"

"Salem is gone, right?"

"She's packing up as we speak. She'll be out of here in no time."

"And there have been no issues with business?"

"Nothing aside from the usual."

Cinder smirked. "Then I'll be fine. I just need some time to rest."

"Do you mind telling me what the hell is it with you and Salem?" He knew he was overstepping his boundaries when she saw her fingers stop typing, but he needed an answer.

She became tense, but she tried to hide it. However, Mercury could tell it was a sensitive topic. "Things never ended on good terms for us. That's all you really need to know."

"Oh, don't give me the vague question-dodging bullshit. I know something's up. Just say something!"

"Mercury…" she said calmly, "…you know how vicious I can be when I'm in a good mood, right?" He silently nodded, unaware of where Cinder was taking this. "Then you definitely don't want to see me in a bad mood."

She never took such a menacing tone with him. He was one of the few people she treated well unconditionally. Seeing this change, he knew he already overstepped his boundaries. "Fine. Keep your secrets. Like I have to give a shit anyway. So, what did you want from me that was so important?"

"Raven wants to call a meeting. I don't know why, but I guess it's something pretty important. Otherwise, she wouldn't bother talking to me."

"When are things going down?"

"Tomorrow. Can you make sure you'll be there?"

"Are you driving?"

"I'd have to kill you if you crashed my car," she said with a smirk. Mercury returned the smile. "I do need to reassert my dominance over the others. It'll be tough."

"Well, speaking of asserting dominance…" Mercury lowered the screen of Cinder's laptop. "…since we don't have to go out…" Cinder looked up at him. "I mean since you said you were feeling better anyway, so –"

Cinder slammed the laptop closed and pushed it to the side. Before he knew what happened, she reached across the desk and pulled him closer to kiss him. She climbed over the desk and sat on the edge while wrapping her legs around Mercury. She was going to take him back for herself after learning what he did with Salem. "Just shut up and fuck me already."

Mercury smirked. "I hope I'm getting paid extra for this."

Cinder started unbuckling his pants. "Isn't this payment enough?"

As he penetrated her, he replied, "Well, I'm pretty sure satisfying your needs is kinda part of my job at this point."

Cinder chuckled as he thrust into her. "It's a good thing you're pretty." Cinder wrapped her arms around his back as she gripped her butt. She bit her lip in pleasure as she felt Mercury inside her.

 

* * *

 

Ren was on the phone using a private phone. He and Ruby usually had phones for these sorts of deals so that they don't get traced back to them. It was something that the Port and Ozpin allowed but never fully condoned. They still felt the practice was somewhat shady. Still, it helped get them results when necessary. He called Mickey and listened to the phone ringing while Nora was in the shower. "Hey, what's up?" the man answered.

"Yo, Mickey," Ren replied. "I heard you can get some good guns on the cheap."

"Yeah, that's right. Who is this?"

"Just call me Sean. Listen, when's the soonest you can do business with me?"

"Well, I'm backed up on orders."

"Come on! I'm good for the money. Can't ya hook me up?"

He waited for Mickey's response, assuming that he was thinking about it. "You know what, Sean? If you're gonna get the money, I'll get you the goods. I'll text you the details when I can."

"Thanks, Mick. You're a real lifesaver."

As he hung up, he heard the shower shut off and saw Nora walking out in a towel. "Are you done?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"So, you're going undercover again?"

"Looks like it. I'll try not to get hurt."

"I'm not worried about that. I'm sure you can take care of yourself." She wrapped her arms around him and kiss his cheek.

 

* * *

 

Sienna was standing in front of a green-screen while shooting one of her campaign ads. It was the third one she had to shoot that day, but thankfully they didn't take much time to shoot. "For too long," she said, "this city has been plagued by corruption and the threat of organized crime. And our current mayor is either too ignorant or complacent to do anything about it." Weiss was standing by to see what Sienna was doing. She was emotionally invested in the campaign as well as her financial investment. She meant what she said when she was going to see it through to the end. Now that she didn't have to worry about Neptune, she could do more to look over things. (Not that she needed to, but she still did it anyway.) "It's time that Vale had a leader who knew this city rather than some bureaucratic politician. If you vote for me, I will make sure that this city that we all love is kept safe for the good, honest people. My name is Sienna Khan, and I approve this message."

After a few seconds, the director finally yelled, "Cut! Alright, that's a wrap for today. We'll let you know if we need you again."

Sienna nodded and walked away from the set. On her way out, her assistant Trifa Abella informed her of her schedule. "Now, we have a campaign rally coming up in the next two days. Though, I'd recommend moving it later to make sure that we can get more people there."

"We're leaving it where it is," Sienna replied. "Just because I'm running for mayor, that doesn't mean that I won't try to connect with the people. If anything, that's more reason to do so."

"But we need a larger audience. In this race, optics are everything."

"Well, if you want more people to see it, then get some news coverage arranged for it. Will that be a problem?"

"I'll see what I can do, ma'am."

Weiss walked up to the candidate. "Sienna!" she called out. "Glad to see you again."

"Thanks, Schnee," she replied in her stern manner. "Honestly, I'm just glad to get out of this ad shooting bullshit."

"At least you get the final say on how it's edited."

"Well, it seems like half the time, my campaign manager doesn't seem to understand what I'm going for. I work better when I'm connecting to the people."

"I'm guessing that if you were a general, you'd be on the front lines rather than an armchair general."

"Interesting metaphor for you to use."

"Well, my sister used to be in the armed forces."

"Hm. Well, if you can, send her my thanks for her service."

"I will. So, I just wanted to ask, what got you involved in activism in the first place?"

"Basically, getting sick of the status quo. I wanted to push for the change I wanted to see in the world."

"Is that really all?"

"What, do you want an interview, Schnee?"

"I just wanted to know."

Sienna sighed. "I used to have a family. My daughter and husband were on their way back from their friend's birthday party two years ago. On the news, then I saw that they got caught up in the middle of a mob dispute." Weiss could tell the memories were painful for her. "When I went to the police demanding answers, they hardly helped at all. They said they could only go after it if they had some concrete evidence to link them to the mob. Two months later, I found out the same cop that was working on the case was dirty. That's when I knew things were beyond hope."

"I'm… I'm really sorry."

"But, now that I have a chance to do something about it, I'm taking it. If I can't influence change from the outside, then I guess doing it from the inside will get better results. Either way, I'm not gonna stand by and do nothing."

"Well, I hope things do work out for you."

"Thank you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have more preparations to make for the campaign rally." Sienna left and Weiss had a newfound respect for her and what she was doing. _I made a good decision trying to help her_ , she thought.

Weiss suddenly got a call from her own assistant. "Hello?" she answered.

"I've got the car ready," Glynda replied. "Are you done in there?"

"Yes. I'll be out soon."

 

* * *

 

Cinder drove up in her Ferrari where Torchwick and Raven were already waiting. She stepped out with her usual elegance restored and a smirk on her face. "I'm not late, am I?" she asked.

The others looked around before Torchwick spoke up, "Do you see the Bull around here?"

Cinder chuckled. Raven noted, "I must say, you're usually one of the first ones here. What happened?"

"I was busy with Mercury," she replied. The other two glanced at each other. "And yes, you can interpret that however you wish. Anyway, Raven, you called this meeting saying it was urgent. What is this about?"

"I'm guessing you've heard about Sienna Khan by now."

"In passing. Do you think she'll be a problem?"

"It's possible, but I'm not really enough of an expert. Qrow knows more about it than I do."

"Well, it's a shame that he isn't here to explain it himself."

"About that…" Raven went to the passenger's side and opened the door.

Qrow rose from the car and greeted everyone. "Sup, folks?" he said.

"Mr. Branwen," Cinder said, bemused. "I'm glad you could finally join one of our little get-togethers."

"You better be. I'm risking a hell of a lot by being here. We've had to be pretty careful that no one saw us coming together."

"Well, taking this risk is greatly appreciated. Especially if the information you have for us is as valuable as you say."

Qrow nodded. Raven began by saying, "Alright. I guess that means we can officially begin."

Qrow was confused. "We're not waiting for Taurus."

"Ha!" Torchwick exclaimed. "Don't hold your breath. He's always late for meetings. We got tired of waiting for him, so you might as well just start now."

"Besides," Cinder added, "It's not like he'll be paying too much attention to the political side of things."

Qrow shrugged. "Fine. Well, as you know, Khan looks like she's leading in the polls and if she gets her way, we could be done for. All the legislators I bribed might get purged and it'll be much more difficult to bribe any new ones. After that, she'll be on our tails in no time."

"So, we'll need to set up new precautions."

"Or," Torchwick suggested as he turned to Qrow, "you could make sure Ironwood wins the election."

Raven noted, "It's kinda difficult to rig an election. And we could get caught even more easily."

"Raven's right," Cinder agreed. "It's dangerous to put all our effort into a slim possibility. For now, it's better to work under the assumption that Khan is going to win. Better to put precautions in place that we don't use rather than be unprepared for the fate we want to avoid."

"I guess," he muttered.

"Don't worry," Raven said. "My brother will cover our asses." As soon as she put her hand on his shoulder, he violently shoved it away from him.

Before either of the other mob bosses could question it, Taurus' car along with the vehicles of several of his men pulled up next to everyone else. Taurus got out of his car and joined the others while the Albains stood behind him. Immediately, he noticed that Qrow was in attendance. He mocked him and said, "Oh, so the Branwen's 'White Sheep' finally dirties his hands and comes to one of our meetings?"

Qrow fired back, "At least I got here on time."

"You have no right to fucking criticize me for that!"

"Taurus," Cinder said, "don't make me kick your ass again." Taurus grumbled as he backed off.

"That would be unwise," Corsac stated.

Cinder was confused about their presence. "Who are they?"

"Well," Taurus began, "you got yourself your own hitman, so I got myself two."

"That's a good idea," Torchwick noted after taking a drag of his cigar. "I'm personally not into it, but I guess I can't really judge you for getting into gay threesomes."

As he smirked, Taurus shouted, "Goddammit, Torchwick!"

The brothers kept him from doing anything rash. Fennic replied, "Do not waste your energy on him, Mr. Taurus. His insults only compensate for his physical disability."

Corsac continued, "That must be why he does it. A failure to admit that in true combat, he'd be hopeless."

Torchwick rolled his eyes and said, "I see that they also handle making comebacks for you. And pretty mediocre ones at that."

"You know," Taurus replied, "you really should know when to hold your fucking tongue."

Cinder sighed and added, "I hate to say it, but I agree with Taurus."

Raven cleared his throat. "If we're done arguing here," he said, "can we get back to the topic at hand?" Everyone paid attention to the man at that moment. "Qrow?" However, he was still spacing out. "Qrow!"

"Huh?" he blurted out. He was in the middle of another flashback. He didn't know what triggered it, but for all he knew, just standing next to Raven was triggering him. It took a second to remember where he was. "Oh. Right. Anyway, Sienna is hellbent on getting rid of the organized crime element of this city. If she gets elected, it won't take long until she's gonna take all of us off the streets."

Cinder added, "She'll also likely end up purging any corrupt cops in the station. However, I do have a way to help mitigate the damage. It's a deal that Taurus and I have been engaged in for a while." He grumbled at the thought when he remembered how she proposed the idea. "I have eyes in the VPD right now. I can help by keeping people off our tracks if any of our workers get arrested."

"And why would you wanna help us?" Torchwick asked.

"Call it a mutual self-interest. If one of us gets tracked down, we could all be done for. It wouldn't do any of us good if the cops track us down one by one. So, what do you say?"

Raven asked, "Do we have to pay you anything?"

"Just that everyone stays in their lane. Like I said, it's mutual self-interest."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **FUN FACTS:**  
>  * The Belladonnas both work as prosecutors. That's how Blake was introduced into the field of law enforcement.  
> * For those wondering, yes. Flynt was Ren's old boyfriend. And he is gay.  
> * While I did change Flynt's last name to "Cole" instead of "Coal", I planned to change Neon's name too to make "Neon Katt" a nickname. Imagine my surprise when I found out that there is a singer with the legal name "Neon"! I'm not even kidding. And "Katt" turns out to be a real surname, too.  
> * Trifa's last name, "Abella," means "spider. A little subtle nod to her Faunus heritage in canon.
> 
> Won't be able to update fics pretty soon because I'll be extremely busy, so It'll probably be a while until I get anything new out. Just letting you guys know. As always, leave a comment and let me know what you think. :)


	16. Let's Make a Deal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cinder re-asserts her control after her regained sanity (relatively speaking), and Ruby is provided with more developments about the in her investigation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Been _extremely_ busy, but finally got a chance to push another chapter out. I hope you enjoy.

 

Hazel picked up his wife and spun her around with joy. They were elated that they could finally save their daughter. "Hazel, this is amazing!" she cried. "Thank God. When can we get the surgery?"

"He'll let me know as soon as they can get it into the system," he replied. "Then I'll be done with all of this."

Lydia was excited... but her smile receeded when she realized something. "Wait... who is it from?"

He was afraid she might ask about it. "Lydia, don't think about that."

"But if it's from some random person, how do we know -"

He grabbed her shoulders. "Lydia. Listen to me. We're saving our daughter. That's all you need to know." She looked down at her feet. "Hey, for all we know, it was one of his rivals, and you know how bad those guys are. Trust me. We want to leave this business. You don't need to spend your time thinking about this."

She started to nod, agreeing with her husband. "You're right... you're right. We should think about Cassie."

"Do you want me to tell her?"

"Maybe not yet. Wait until we know when we're getting her surgery." Hazel nodded. After all this time, he was finally going to be done with his life of crime.

* * *

 

Qrow spent some time in Harvey's apartment when he was able to get away from his sister. Harvey was in the middle of taking Qrow from behind. As he gripped the sheets, Harvey climaxed for the third time that night. Out of breath, he pulled out and the two men laid down on the bed. "Thanks," Qrow said. "I needed that."

"I'm guessing Raven's been especially hard on you?" Harvey asked.

"She decided to move in with me to try to fix things herself." Qrow sighed and continued, "I can't take much more of this."

"You could've just killed her."

"You know exactly why I can't do that."

"Yeah… but you see any other options?"

The suddenly heard a knock on the door. "Were you expecting someone?" Qrow asked.

Harvey threw on some clothes and walked up to answer the door. He opened it and saw a blonde woman with sunglasses. "Excuse me," she said, "I'm looking for someone."

Harvey raised an eyebrow and asked, "Who are you looking for?"

"Qrow Branwen." This concerned him. He tried to hide his unease. "Do you know where he is?"

"Why are you looking for him?"

"Well, if you're wondering, I'm not planning on exposing his business relationship with his sister, so you won't have to worry about that." Harvey didn't know how to react to this. "May I come inside?"

After a moment of silence, Harvey let her into his home. He pointed her in the direction of the couch. "Wait here. I'll get him." The woman sat as Harvey went back to his bedroom. "We might have a problem."

"What is it?" Qrow inquired.

"Some blonde came in saying she knows about you and your sister working together."

"What?!"

"I don't know. She said she wasn't going to reveal anything, but I'm not convinced. Just go talk to her so we can get her out of here sooner."

Qrow sighed and got some pants on before going to see the woman in question. He didn't recognize her on first glance. "What do you want?"

The woman smirked as she removed her glasses to reveal amber eyes. Both me were shocked by the identity of the visitor. "Just wanted to talk for a bit," Cinder replied.

"What the fuck are you doing here?! Are you crazy?"

"So I've been told." Cinder removed the blonde wig she was wearing. "I have something rather important to discuss. Sorry to interrupt your apparently amorous evening. Honestly, had I known this is what you were doing, I would've asked to come by and watch." Qrow's fists clenched. "I wonder, does Raven know this is what you're doing right now? I'd imagine she wouldn't be… accepting of this."

As Cinder stood up, she sauntered over to him as he backed away. "Seriously, you need to leave right now."

"Don't you at least want to hear what I have to say?"

"If you wanna make a deal, go to Raven."

"This deal isn't for her. It's specifically for you."

"What?"

Cinder gingerly touched his bare chest, causing him to become tense. Cinder took notice and smirked. "Interesting…" She recognized the response. "…What did she do to you?" Qrow averted his eyes to hide the shame he felt. He had no idea how she knew, but he couldn't hide it. "Look, I came to discuss something that will be mutually beneficial. Would you like to take a minute to talk about it?"

As Qrow hesitated, Harvey stepped in and said, "Well, you can't do it in my place if you need privacy. You're not kicking me out of here."

"Oh, don't worry, Harvey. I might need your input on this. And I'm sure you won't say anything about this meeting since you know what would happen." Her glare cut right through him and he knew what she was implying. "So, gentlemen… shall we begin this negotiation?"

 

* * *

 

The next day, Blake and Sun watched their re-apprehended suspect, waiting for the Belladonnas to come back from the DA's office. "So…" Sun said, "…do you think we'll get anything out of him this time?"

"Well," Blake replied, "the fact that we'll actually have a chance to interrogate him certainly helps. We're not letting this motherfucker get away this time."

"Watch your language, young lady," the cops heard. They turned and saw Blake's mother, Kali walking into the room, smirking at her daughter.

"Mom. Glad you got here."

"Your dad told me everything. How's your leg?"

"Better. Thanks for asking."

"Great. Nice to see you, too, Sun."

Sun chuckled and stuttered, "Hey, Mrs. B." Both of them knew he was attracted to her, but he still tried not to say anything about it.

The prosecutor turned back to her daughter. "So, you're hoping he takes a plea deal?"

"He doesn't have much of a choice," Blake replied. "But first, we called in a professional interrogator to take care of this one."

"A professional?"

"You'll see."

Tyrian sat in the interrogation room, shifting around in his chair with his hands cuffed to the table. He didn't know what to do if he couldn't get someone to get him a lawyer. He needed a good one to get out of this, so he wasn't looking forward to what would happen. It got even worse when he saw the redhead who tackled him walk into the room. He had been familiar with Penny's interrogation techniques. He'd like to say he was immune to her, but he still felt uneasy sitting across from her and her warm smile. "Good evening, Panda Killer," she said as she sat down. "Or should I refer to you by your real name."

His lip started quivering as she saw Penny's endearing eyes look into his own. "I… I want a lawyer."

"You'll be getting that soon. But, the public defenders' office is backed up at the moment. So, unless you can call one in, it will be a while. You can refuse to answer the questions until one gets here if that's what you prefer."

"Don't do this to me."

"Don't do what?"

"I know your tricks!" he shouted with tears in his eyes. "I'm not falling for this again!"

Penny looked blankly at him as he shouted. She was silent for a moment before saying, "Do you want a box of tissues?"

"What do you mean?"

"You seem to be crying. Is this a difficult time for you?"

"I'M NOT CRYING!" he said as tears started flowing out of his eyes. It wasn't much, but it was still enough to know he was in denial again.

"It's okay, Mr. Callows. I'm not here to hurt you. I just want to see if you can answer some questions. Besides, your guilt is already determined since you were caught with the evidence. Rather gruesome stuff that you did." However, she said the last sentence as if she was complimenting him. If she was honest, she did admire the extent that she had cut the people up – even while still feeling empathetic to the victims. "But my two colleagues would like to ask you some questions pertaining to the last time you were here."

"I know nothing!"

"I never said you knew anything."

"Well… I don't."

"Okay. Then how about we start with your connection to Mr. Hart? Did you know him prior to that meeting?"

"I never met him."

"What about whoever sent him to you?"

He tried to keep from bursting out about Torchwick, but he knew it would be a fruitless effort since he had better lawyers to keep him out of trouble. "I… I wouldn't be able to say."

"That was a coordinated effort. You couldn't have been let out for no reason." That comment made Tyrian look down at his hands. "I know it seems like that mental institution might not be very nice, but it's more beneficial. However, going to prison would be rather unfavorable."

"Please don't elaborate on it!" he whined.

"But you need to know the dangers of someone with your condition going into a place like that. The mental health facilities in prison aren’t as up-to-date as they should. –"

"I WANT A LAWER! I'm entitled to one! I will speak until I've had an opportunity to have proper counsel!"

Penny sighed. "Very well. I'll allow you to speak with a public defender if one is available." She left the room and went to talk to the other officers.

Sun turned to Kali and asked, "So, what do you think?"

Kali replied, "I think that it'll be rather beneficial. If we can get a confession out of him, then that could be helpful to figure out who was behind getting Hart to him. I'll get in touch with the D.A.'s office."

As Kali walked away, Sun kept her eyes on the woman. Something that Blake took notice of and smirked. "In case you're wondering, Sun," she said, "she's where I got my ass from."

Sun chuckled nervously. "What?" he said. "What are you talking about?"

"Just admit it. You know you were looking."

They heard another voice saying, "She is pretty sexy, isn't she?"

Sun turned and said, "Oh, definitely. It's…" He trailed off when he noticed it was Ghira. Sun's eyes widened. "I mean… in an objective sense. Like, I could see… how she would be considered…" Ghira's expression didn't display any malice, but it was not a comforting expression for Sun. "I'm just gonna go."

As Sun walked out, Blake turned to Ghira and asked, "Dad, do you always have to do that?"

Ghira guffawed and replied. "What? He's fun to mess with. I'm not worried about him."

"Yeah, well, I could do without having to worry about cleaning up a puddle of his piss every time you talk to him."

 

* * *

 

Ruby took some time to look over more case reports while she was in the middle of waiting for the money for the gun deal occurring later. She had to organize all the paperwork for the D.A.'s office, and she was more excited by this than usual since it was going to help her get directly to Cinder. She suddenly saw Blake's parents approaching her. "Ghira! Kali!" she called out. "Thank God you're here. Did Port tell you what's going on?"

"Yes," Ghira replied. "Sorry about the delay. We were still dealing with that lunatic. I think that we'll need to hold back on the deal though. Too many variables to account for."

"I thought we were good to go. We just needed the money."

"That's the problem," Kali interjected. "The mayor doesn't think we should be having any money put forth towards this operation since it would be benefiting a criminal enterprise."

Ruby scoffed. "So is letting it run amuck when you have a solid lead to take it down. This is something we've done a ton of times."

"Well…" Ghira and Kali looked at each other. "…there might be another factor involved."

Ruby sighed and looked down at her feet. "Schnee." The Belladonnas nodded in response. "I don't get it. He's still working on a campaign. Is he really still focusing on doing business with Schnee?"

"If so," someone else said, "he's going to be very disappointed." He looked over and saw Weiss and Glynda walking into the precinct. "I’m Glynda Goodridge. Weiss Schnee's personal assistant." She held out her hand to shake with the attorneys and the officer. "I do hope you don't mind, but Ms. Schnee wishes to speak with you personally regarding a matter about your investigation."

"Then couldn't she come in and tell us herself?"

"She just needed some assurance that she wouldn't be harassed by any fans in the precinct."

"I highly doubt that she has anything to worry about. Everyone is pretty busy here."

"Very well, I shall escort her up here."

As Glynda left, Ruby got another call on her work phone. She answered the phone and said, "Sergeant Rose."

"Sergeant," the secretary said, "there is a woman by the name of Yang Xiao Long up here to see you."

 _I guess she has a lead, too_ , she thought. "Send her over."

The Belladonnas left to take care of the Tyrian case as Ruby waited for Yang. As the blonde approached, she noticed a few stares from male officers. She ignored them as she went to Ruby. "Nice to see you again, Sergeant Rose," she said.

"Ms. Xiao Long. You have something for me?"

"Probably. I don't know, but I noticed something shady about one of my regulars. He was calling about something, but he seemed a bit shady this time. It could be nothing, but he insists on not talking about his actual job."

"Well, I don't know if you could call that substantial, but I would recommend keeping an eye on him. What's his name?"

"Mercury. That's all I know."

"Okay. Thank you for the tip, Ms. Xaio Long."

"Yang?!" they heard as they turned back around. Weiss' stunned face greeted them both and Yang hid her face.

Ruby noticed the reaction. "You know her?"

Yang bashfully replied. "It's a long story." She saw that Weiss' face was beet red.

"Ahem," Weiss said, "is there any place private that we can discuss this? It might be pretty sensitive information. Between overseeing Khan's campaign and some other developments, I don't have too much time to discuss it here."

"Well…" Ruby replied, "I think that you could give me a number that I could contact you with." At this moment, she started to notice the oddity of her asking for Weiss Schnee's number.

"Thank you. Miss Goodridge?" she said, turning to the assistant. Glynda started to write down a number for her to call.

Blake approached Ruby and immediately noticed Weiss standing with them. "Okay," she said, "I just needed to see if this was true. Someone told me you were here, and I couldn't believe it." Weiss rubbed her shoulder as she seemed embarrassed. "Sorry, I just wanted to see. I'll leave you alone."

"It's fine. I understand."

"By the way, loved your concert." This made Weiss smile, but something that caught her attention was when Blake kissed her on the cheek.

After that, Ruby went back to Weiss. "If you can set up a time to discuss this," Ruby continued, "I'd be happy to listen."

"Thank you," Weiss replied.

 

* * *

 

Cardin and his partner, John Perkins, arrested low-level drug-dealer that they got some information on recently. The drugs that they seized included about ten pounds of cocaine and a pound of meth. He smirked as they put the man in the back of their squad car. "Looks like we got one big-ass haul," he said. "I'm sure even those dykes could be loving how good we did with this."

John rolled his eyes and said, "You really don't know when to quit, do you?"

"Just need to keep going. They'll get the message eventually." He turned away from John and looked at the suspect. "So, tell me, kid. Is there anyone else inside the house?" The suspect shook his head. "Okay then. You better not be lying to me because I'm about to take another sweep over the place."

Cardin decided to go in alone, hoping he'd get some time to inform Cinder about the people he was arresting. However, he heard creaking on the floorboards. He knew someone was hiding and he had his hand on his gun. He heard some noise in the bathroom and kicked it open while pointing his gun at the man. The criminal pointed his gun at Cardin. "Stay the fuck away from me!" he shouted. He soon started to recognize him. "Wait… Winchester?"

Cardin grimaced since he recognized him, too. He was at a meeting he had with Mercury. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Look, man. I won't say anything. I just need you to promise me Cinder doesn't find out."

"What? Are you taking money out from behind her back or something like that?"

"It's a misunderstanding. I promise."

"Heh. Yeah, that's what they always say. Put the gun down!"

The man was startled by Cardin's outburst. "Okay, okay. I'll do it."

Before he even put the gun next to his feet, Cardin shouted again, "I said put it down, you son of a bitch!"

Now he was confused. "What? I'm doing it, man."

"Don't make me shoot you!"

"What are you talking about? I'm just –"

That was all he could say before Cardin unloaded six rounds into his chest. Had to make it sound convincing, he thought. There was no way he was letting that guy live long enough to double-cross him. He wouldn't risk it. John came in soon after and saw the dead man in front of Cardin. "What happened?" he asked.

"Fucker tried to shoot at me. Had to make a tough call."

"Shit. That's not good."

"Hey, it was me or him. Fight or flight, y'know?"

"I'm not judging you or anything. I really don't blame you for it."

"Good. Go let them know we've got a body here and they need to pick it up."

As they walked out, John muttered, "Gonna be a shitload of paperwork for this one." And as long as Cardin was the only witness, he got away with killing the man.

 

* * *

 

Weiss pulled Yang to the side on her way out of the precinct. "Hey," she said. "I need your help."

"What is it?" Yang asked.

"Look… I finally told Neptune."

"Really?!"

"Yeah. And, I'm probably gonna have trouble telling everyone else."

"So, what's the problem?"

"I saw that officer you were talking to… and maybe they can help me with coming out to everyone."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yeah. So, here's what I want you to do. We can tell her about this investigation and then we can talk about this."

"Why do you need me there?"

"Honestly, I don't think I can do this without your help. Please, I just need your support."

Yang shrugged. "I guess I could help, but do you really think that this is a good idea?"

"Do you think it's a worse idea than what I've been doing?"

"Fair point."

"Then, I'll let you know when I'm planning on doing it."

 

* * *

 

Cinder was down in her gun range after a new shipment. She had her workers taking the crates down for her while she had Emerald by her side. She opened up a crate of new automatic rifles that she had shipped into the city. It took her months to find a way to get them to Vale, but she finally got them. She took one out of the case and admired the model with a smirk. "Now this is just lovely," she said. "They're better than I pictured them." She took in every single detail of the gun and relished in it. "Do you have the ammo?"

One man said, "It's upstairs right now."

"Then bring it down. I wanna have a little fun with these things firsthand." As the men left, Cinder decided to show the gun to Emerald. "Looks nice, doesn't it?" Emerald nodded hesitantly. "Have you never fired a gun before?"

"I mean…" she stuttered, "…I did a long time ago."

"Really?" Cinder's interest was piqued. "Do explain."

Emerald grabbed the hem of her skirt. "My dad… took me to some gun ranges when I was a teenager."

"So, you must be aware of how things work here."

"Well, I've never fired a rifle before."

"Do you wanna try?" Emerald looked up at Cinder as she handed off the gun. "Come on. Have some fun, little gem." Emerald slowly took the gun in her hands. As Emerald aimed the gun at the targets, Cinder came up behind her and guided her hands to where they needed to be. Intimately gliding her fingers over her assistant's skin. "Just like that," she purred into Emerald's ear. "You're doing good."

"Thanks."

"Just wait until we get the bullets in here. Now, tell me. If I told you that you had to kill someone… would you do it?"

"Uh…" The question caught her completely off-guard. "I… I guess… I've never killed anyone before."

Cinder gave a sinister chuckle that somewhat disturbed Emerald. "Then you're in for a treat. There's nothing quite like the rush of taking a life. While I do prefer a bit more… personal means, I'd assume you're not quite ready for that yet. So, we'll keep it simple." Emerald simply nodded, complying with her boss, scared of what she was implying. That thought was interrupted when she felt Cinder's hand grazing her hip.

They heard a cough from behind them. They looked back and saw Mercury waiting behind them. "Oh, don't mind me," he said. "Please continue. It was just getting interesting."

Cinder let go of Emerald and talked to her hitman. "What's the status of your targets?"

"Those cops you wanted dead have been taken care of."

"And the families?"

Mercury shrugged and replied, "That's what you paid me for, right?"

Cinder's grin stretched as she approached him. "That's what I love about you, Mercury. None of those pesky moral hang-ups holding you back."

"I mean, I could think of a few other reasons you love me…" He gave his trademark cocky grin.

"Mercury!" she said, playfully chiding him. "Not in front of Emerald. She'll get jealous."

Emerald's face went red, even showing through her dark skin. "Are you guys gonna be fucking anytime soon?"

"I planned on it."

"Fine." Mercury began to leave, but he remembered something. "Oh! Before I forget, did you hear about Torchwick's new place?"

"New place?"

"That strip club he opened."

"Well, I wouldn't have expected that to be how he launders his money. When did it open?"

"A couple days ago."

"Who runs the place?"

"I think it's Junior."

"Junior?" Cinder's grin extended further. "Emerald. Mercury. I think I know what we'll be doing tonight."

 

* * *

 

Cardin brought in the suspect and left him in for questioning. "Take this scumbag out of here," he said. As he went through the precinct, he bumped into Blake, much to her frustration since she was trying to avoid him. "Whoa. Watch where you're going, Belladonna."

Blake growled and replied, "I was, but when some asshole goes out of his way to bump into me, it really doesn't matter either way."

Cardin chuckled. "Come on, don't act like you can keep your eyes off me." He leaned in closer, causing Blake to back away. "If you wanted to get my attention, there are easier ways to do it."

"You know, you think you're God's gift to women, but even if I was into guys, I wouldn't wanna touch you with a ten-foot pole."

"I'm sure I could change your mind about that."

His smirk disappeared when he felt a large hand on his shoulder and heard a man say, "Would you mind repeating that, officer?"

He turned around and saw Ghira looming over him with his yellow eyes glaring into his own. "Uh… what I meant to say was… your daughter seems like a pretty great person."

Before he could say anything else, Ghira cut him off. "Shut the hell up and leave my daughter alone."

Cardin started to find the nerve to threaten him back. "You know, threatening an officer is not a good idea."

"And who do you think will be prosecuting me?" He could see the officer's bravado dropping almost immediately. Cardin knew that even though he was an old man, Ghira could easily crush him. So, he decided to leave this be for now. (At least until the Belladonnas left the precinct.)

Blake looked up at her father and said, "Thanks, but I could've handled that."

"I know you could, but what kind of father would I be if I just allowed it to happen? Besides, I have to do it for your mother all the time. It's not much of a burden." Blake smiled at the comment.

Not long after, they noticed some female officers staring at Ghira. They immediately looked away when they noticed they had been found out. "Seems like Mom might have to do the same for you at some point."

"Well, I have been keeping up with my workouts. I may be old, but that doesn't mean I can't be tough."

 

* * *

 

Raven spent some time down at a casino that she owned just outside of Vale. It helped her with money laundering when necessary, but she went down to gamble there on occasion. Tonight, she and some other gamblers were playing Blackjack and she was losing a lot. Though, it didn't bother her that much. Not as much as it bothered everyone else. For one key reason: her choice of strategy (for lack of a better term).

The house dealt out hands for everyone as they placed their bets. Warren, a man who was currently winning more than everyone there, was cocky about his assured victory. "All in, bitches," he said. "I doubt any of you have the balls to put in that much."

"None of us even have that much to bet," another man pointed out.

"Gee. I wonder why." His smug smirk irritated almost everyone there. However, Raven remained calm as she accepted her hand. He was bothered by her serenity. As everyone looked at their hands and took their extra cards, Raven didn't even bother to look at her hand. "Hey, you know, it helps when you look at your goddamn cards."

Raven shrugged and replied, "Good to know." Yet she still didn't bother to look at the hand.

"Come on. You always do this. I know gambling relies a bit on luck, but you look like you're just going on random chance."

"Makes things more interesting. Never know what you're gonna get."

Warren narrowed his eyes at her as everyone started to reveal their cards. Warren won once again with twenty in his hand, but Raven only had seven. She turned in her cards and awaited the next hand. One man said, "Looks like you're almost out of money to bet."

"Then I guess that means I'm almost out," she answered calmly.

"Seriously," Warren shouted, "just look at your cards for once."

"Got a problem with that? Does it scare you?" Warren only scowled as he placed his bet. "You know, most people would appreciate an easy game."

"Not when your opponent isn't even trying." This only cause Raven to shake her head as she placed her own bet. "All in? Bold move."

"It's not like I have much left."

"Then why don't you just give up?"

"It makes things interesting this way. I like the surprise."

"That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

"Well, then how about I raise the stakes." Warren was intrigued by the proposition. He wondered what she could possibly be offering. "For this next hand… I'll bet myself. If I lose, not only do you take my money, but I will let you take me and do whatever the hell you want to my body and I won't have any say in the matter."

Everyone else at the table was shocked at the proposition, but Warren was merely incredulous. "So, you're basically letting me rape you if you lose this hand? That’s fucking insane."

"That's not all. If you lose, not only do I get your money, but I get to do something to you that you can't argue with either?"

"And what's that?"

Raven shrugged. "Dunno. Haven't thought of it yet."

"You don't even know?! Then why would I take you up on that offer."

"Keep in mind what I'm putting on the table. And I have no idea what my hand is gonna be. For all I know, it could be the worst Blackjack hand in the history of gambling. And I've still got the balls to go for it. Are you saying you don't have the balls to do it?"

Warren hesitated. He couldn't believe what she was doing right now. "Don't do it, man," one other player said. "It ain't worth it."

"Don't decide for him. He's a big boy. He can make his own decisions, right?" She glared intensely at him as the cards were dealt. He looked at his hand, but she kept hers under her palm, smirking as she did. "How about a little incentive?" She pulled the strap on her tank top down and started to reveal of her breasts as she fondled it. "Could be yours if you win this bet. Assuming that you're not a pussy and you actually take it."

Warren shouted, "There's no way you actually would be willing to fuck me if you lose this bet."

"Well, duh. That's kinda the point. But at the same time, when people gamble, no one ever wants to lose money. That is the point of gambling. Risking something you have in exchange for a reward." She wasn't wrong, but Warren still wasn't willing to go on with this offer. As Raven covered up once again, she said, "Last chance. Take it or leave it."

He nervously watched her drum her fingers on the table as her palm covered her cards. Finally, Warren emphatically stated, "No deal. We're just betting the money. That's enough, right?"

As everyone revealed their cards, Warren was at the highest when he got a ten, seven, and three. The last person to reveal their cards was Raven.

She flipped them over… and revealed a two and a five. Warren's eyes went wide when he saw how easily he could've won the bet. As Raven rose from her seat, she smirked and said, "Shoulda taken my offer. Have a good night, gentlemen." As she left, she made sure to sway her hips for Warren, further taunting him about his missed opportunity.

 

* * *

 

The Albains waited in their car as they watched Nia's house. Taurus told them to keep an eye on her just to make sure Cinder didn't try to kill her and implicate him in statutory rape. They were mostly silent until Corsac decided to break the silence. "Brother."

"Hm?" Fennic replied?

"Are you at all concerned about Mr. Taurus?"

"He has already paid us for our first job. Why do you ask?"

"Well, his… instability might be an issue all things considered."

"Are you afraid that he might end up killing us?"

"It is a possibility."

"I would not worry. He feels the need to compete with Cinder. We are his answer to Mr. Black. Besides, he clearly sees the importance of keeping certain people alive. Just consider what we're doing right now. He has been rather brutal towards the slaves he traffics. If he is doing all this to keep her alive, it proves that he has some discretion in how he deals with important individuals."

"Does that make us important to him in that case?"

"It would seem that way, Corsac."

Their conversation was interrupted when they saw Nia dragging a large bag to her car. "This is quite curious." They watched as the small woman load the bag into her car with surprisingly little effort. "Should we alert Mr. Taurus?"

"I think it would be beneficial to see this one through before jumping to conclusions. We'll need to follow her." With that, Fennic started the car. He knew it would be difficult to remain inconspicuous in the middle of the night, but they had to keep tabs on her however they could.

 

* * *

 

Pyrrha sat by herself in the coffee shop while she waited for another client. He told her to meet him there for a reason he refused to explain. She hoped Yang would be here because it seemed sketchy to her, but she said she was busy somewhere else. So, she stuck with just using a hat and sunglasses to hopefully keep herself hidden in plain sight while she waited for him. At the very least, she knew what he looked like, so it would be easy to spot him. However, that didn't even matter when she got a text in her work phone.

_Can't make it after all. Sorry. I'll still pay you for the time though._

She sighed as she closed her phone again. _Figures_ , she thought. At least she knew there wasn't much reason for her to stay there anymore.

However, one man suddenly sat down in front of her. He seemed young, and he had dark brown hair with grey eyes. She mentally sighed as she saw his sleazy smile. "Hello, gorgeous," he said. "Just saw you from across the shop and I thought you looked pretty hot."

"Thanks," she mirthlessly replied, hoping the interaction would end.

"So, there's this club out on 23rd street that just opened. I could get you in tomorrow night. Though, with your tits, I'm sure they'd let you in for free." He chuckled at his own joke when she tried to look away. "Come on, it wouldn't hurt you to smile. I'm doing you a favor."

Her fists clenched when he heard her suggest that she should smile. She didn't hear it often, but she hated it every time. "Please just leave."

"You haven't even given me a chance yet."

"And I don't want to."

Thankfully, he heard someone walking towards them. She assumed it was a friend coming in to either stop him or be his wingman. She hoped it was the former. "Alright, Dylan," the guy said, "I think you've already lost."

As Dylan looked away frustrated with his failure, Pyrrha suddenly recognized the voice. She looked up and was pleasantly surprised. "Jaune?!"

Jaune looked down as she removed her glasses and was equally surprised. "Pyrrha!"

"Wait," Dylan exclaimed, "you know her?"

"Well…" Jaune rubbed the back of his neck, looking for an acceptable answer.

Pyrrha thankfully jumped in and said, "I'm a friend of his. We met a few days ago."

Dylan looked up at Jaune and asked, "You didn't decide to tell me that you had a hot redheaded 'friend'?" He used air quotes and they knew exactly what he was suggesting. "Is she in another class of yours?"

"No, I'm actually out of college."

"And she's an older lady?! This is some bullshit!"

"Dude," Jaune interjected, "how about you just go back to the others?" As Dylan left, Jaune decided to keep talking to Pyrrha. "Sorry about him. He's kind of a…"

"Pushy?" She answered, trying to be nice.

"I was going to say he's kind of a dick."

Pyrrha chuckled. "Wait, you said others. Who are you here with?"

"Uh, just some friends from some other classes. Beacon's on break at the moment, so we've just been hanging out for now."

"Well, that's nice."

"What about you?"

Pyrrha sighed. "I **was** waiting for a client. He told me to meet him here and he just flaked on me. At least he was nice enough to still give me payment."

"Oh. In that case, I guess that you're not doing anything right now? Maybe you could hang out with us."

Pyrrha chuckled nervously, flattered by the offer, but she was still skeptical. "I wouldn't want to intrude on your group of friends."

"Oh, don't worry about that. They're really cool people. Even Dylan. They won't mind at all. Besides, just like you told me before, we're friends."

She considered it. She really did want to spend some more time with him and it would be better spending time with them rather than on her own. Even if she ended up not trusting his friends, he could at least trust Jaune. "If they won't mind… I guess it wouldn't hurt."

Jaune's face lit up as she took him along. He took a moment to introduce her to the group. "Guys, this is Pyrrha."

"Hello," she said.

"Pyrrha, this is Yatsu." He pointed at a large Asian man who looked like a pro-wrestler or a football player. "This is Fox." Then, Jaune pointed at the black man with Auburn hair. "This is Velvet," he said as the girl waved at her. "And, of course, you've already met Dylan."

"Nice to meet you all," Velvet said.

"Hold on," Fox added, "how much is he paying you for this?"

"Uh…" Pyrrha stuttered, "nothing. I'm just a good friend of his."

"Bullshit!" Dylan shouted, causing Yatsu to elbow him in the shoulder.

"Well, color me impressed," Fox remarked. "You really are getting better with girls after all."

"Only if he stopped being a minuteman," Velvet added.

Jaune stuttered as he tried to come up with a response. "Can we not talk about that?" he finally asked.

"Come on," Fox said, "you know we're just messing around." He looked up and Pyrrha and said, "Pull up a seat." She sat with Jaune's friends and while she felt a bit awkward being there, she wasn't going to turn down a chance to spend more time with him.

 

* * *

 

Torchwick walked for more bodies to come in. He was waiting for his agent now that Hazel and Tyrian weren't bringing in bodies for him, he needed someone else doing it for him. And he had the perfect way to do it. Dr. Watts approached him to say, "Is the body here yet?"

"Still waiting," Torchwick replied. "Don't worry. It'll be here."

"You know, without Hazel and the lunatic, we'll be short on supplies at this point."

"Well, we'll at least be able to bring things in through the club. Junior is a big guy as well, so we won't lose much."

Not long after, a car drove into the warehouse. Nia's car. She exited the car smirked. "Hey, Torchie," she said.

"Nia. Do you have the delivery?"

"In the trunk. I'm done with her now. Although, if you're looking for a uterus transplant, I've pretty much destroyed it." She smirked at her joke as Watts went to open the trunk.

"Speaking of which, has the Bull suspected anything?"

"Nah. He's too busy shoving his dick in me to notice anything. Though, I think he's getting angry about me taking so many of his girls."

"He gets angry about everything. It's nothing new."

"She's still alive?" Watts asked.

"I figured it would help," Nia answered.

"It actually does." Suddenly, the girl stirred as Watts opened the bag. "I'll get some of the other workers to pull her out."

As he left, Torchwick took Nia with him to his office. Torchwick said to her, "So, I'm guessing you're pretty tired of Taurus and need a real man now."

Nia giggled and said, "I sure am. So, maybe you should get your crippled ass out there looking for one for me."

"You smug little minx." Torchwick patted her on the head before giving her a kiss.

 

* * *

 

Cinder walked into Roman's club with Emerald and Mercury behind her. Emerald was uncomfortable in the environment, but Mercury was somewhat bored by it. "Well, Merc, you can go enjoy some of the ladies here while Emerald and I have a little chat."

He shrugged and said, "Eh, not that interested. Too many fake tits to be honest."

The comment made her thankful that hers were natural, but that reminded her of her mother's comments. She tried to shake off the memories and focused on the moment. "At least try to find some way to entertain yourself. Come on, Emerald." As the girls left, Cinder headed straight for the bar counter to find an old acquaintance of hers. Hei Xiong. He was known as "Junior" to most people in the criminal underworld. He occasionally provided information on Roman's business for her under Roman's nose, but they did have some… history together.

As Cinder approached, Junior didn't notice her until she got close enough to take a seat. His eyes went wide as she sat down. She smirked and said, "Hello, Junior. Long time, no see."

He wasn't having any of this. "What the fuck," he replied, "are you doing here?"

"Came to see an old friend. How've you been, handsome?"

"Cinder, you can't be in this place. Torchwick will have my head cut off if he knows you've been in here."

"I'm guessing he still doesn't know that you've been in here." She lifted her leg up on top of the bar counter, giving him a good look up her skirt.

He pushed her leg off the counter. "Cut that shit out!" He leaned in closer and whispered, "Look, you shouldn't be here at all. I can't keep giving you info anymore."

"I don't need info. Actually, I decided to perform tonight."

"What?"

"Yes. At least until after I give you a private performance." She leaned in closer, enticing him with her gaze.

"Seriously. What do you want?"

"Well, one thing I want is for you to pull me over this counter and fuck me like a bitch in heat right here and now."

"This isn't funny."

"Oh, well… I guess you wouldn't want me to be bringing up the real reason behind why they call you 'Junior'." As she smirked, Junior's face went red. "Now, should I really remind you that I'm one of the few women who didn't have a problem with your little… deficiency? You more than made up for it by being the bear of a man that you are. You're definitely bigger where it counts."

"I'm not falling for this. What are you here for?"

She chuckled at his suspicion. "Can't a woman see an old flame for a little while? Besides, like everything else about our little partnership…" Cinder pulled on his tie to pull him closer. "…Torchwick doesn't need to know. So, what do you say?"

Junior swallowed the lump in his throat as he replied, "You know, I know there's something else behind this. You want something else out of me."

Cinder chuckled. "Okay, fine. You got me. I do want something else out of you. But we can talk about that after I get a few loads out of you first." She winked as she saw his blush. "Emerald, go make sure Mercury isn't getting himself into too much trouble." Emerald reluctantly nodded, and she left Cinder and Junior alone. "Now, let's find ourselves somewhere private to talk."

 

* * *

 

Back at the Rose/Belladonna apartment, Blake finished talking on the phone with the precinct just after dinner. "Well, I've got some good news," she said. "The suspect I shot is in stable condition and is going to recover."

"Lucky you," Ruby replied. "You didn't kill someone." Her tone suddenly dropped to a melancholy one as soon as she brought this up.

It didn't take long for Blake to pick up on this. "Nightmares again?"

Ruby sighed. "I didn't have them for a few days and last night…" Sky wasn't the first time she had to kill someone on the job. The number of lives she had taken was thankfully few, but she never could let go of any of them. "I honestly still don't know how you do it."

"Do what?"

"Seeing dead bodies day in and day out. How do you even live with seeing all that death?"

"Honestly… I don't." This response caught Ruby's attention. "It's not like you can really ever get used to it. You just need to find a way to keep it from consuming you. It's not like I have a failsafe way of doing that, but… it keeps those thoughts at bay. And besides, having this guilt is a good thing."

"Why?"

"It means you're still empathetic. That way you can help people like you should. Honestly, I'm more afraid of when all this stuff stops affecting me than I am of how much it weighs on you."

"So, we should be worried about Penny then?"

Blake chuckled at the attempt to lighten the mood. "Well, she might be a different case." Ruby laughed along with her. "But, just think of it this way. Think of all the lives you saved. If you didn't shoot Sky, who knows what could've happened? I don't wanna say killing him was a good thing, but the fact that it prevented any innocent deaths is a bonus."

"Yeah… I guess you're right."

"Feeling any better?"

Ruby shrugged. "A little…"

"Well, if you have any more nightmares again, I'm always right beside you."

Ruby's smile broadened. "You always know what to say, don't you?"

"Haven't come to a place where I didn't know."

 

* * *

 

In the strip club, Mercury was mulling about while waiting for Cinder to finish up with whatever she wanted Junior for. Emerald caught up with him as per Cinder's instructions. (Even though she'd rather not, she couldn't disobey her.) Mercury immediately saw the girl approaching. "Hey, Em," he said, yelling over the music. "What's up? Looking to find some more chicks to get a lap dance from? I don't think our boss would be too happy with that."

Emerald grimaced and replied, "I was told to come and check on you, though I'm surprised you don't have five girls hanging off your arms already."

"Ha! I forgot that you've got some snark behind that brown nose of yours." However, his smile dropped when he realized something. "Oh, shit. Is that racist?"

As Emerald sneered at him, two twins walked towards them. Miltia and Melanie Malachite, Junior's personal enforcers and twin sisters. "Well, well, well," Melanie said, "look at this, Miltia. Some asshole who doesn't know his place."

Mercury remembered them from another hit. He took the kill from them and prevented them from getting paid for their efforts. He was still holding it over them and the girls never forgave him for it. "Ladies. Haven't seen you in a while. How's it going? Haven't been letting people do your job for you, have you?"

Miltia got in his face and said, "Don't make us throw you out of here. What the hell are you even doing here?"

"Tits and ass. Why else would a guy be at a strip club?"

They couldn't stand him for long, so Melanie left him with a warning. "Don't cause us any trouble or else the next kill we make will be you." They left in a huff as Mercury smirked once again.

Emerald said, "And this is why Cinder wanted me to watch you."

"Don't be like that," Mercury said. "Learn to loosen up. Cinder's definitely not all business. I'm sure you know."

 

In a back room, Junior had Cinder down on all fours while roughly thrusting into her while pulling her hair. "Fuck yes!" she screamed. "Pound me with that tiny cock of yours."

"Shut! Up!" He groaned.

"Make me," she said with a smirk. This drove him over the edge as he manhandled her and pushed her face into the ground. He groaned loudly as he came, and his body pushed her into a prone position. Cinder moaned, "If only you didn't have to use the condom. I'd love to feel your cum inside me.

He pulled out as he left her laying on the ground. "Yeah, well, there you go. I fucked your brains out. Happy now?"

"Are you?" she chuckled as she smoothed out her dress. He tried to ignore her glib attitude about this. "So, do we have a deal?"

"If you can make sure I don't get used for organs by Torchwick, then we will."

As she sat up, her smirk and devious glare returned to her face. "Excellent. Now, go find Emerald and send her back here."

Junior nodded and left as Cinder waited for her assistant to arrive. Emerald entered the priveate room "You wanted to see me?" she asked.

"Have a seat." Emerald followed her instructions. "I wanted to see..." Cinder began to straddle her. "...if you wanted a preview of the performance." Emerald tried not to blush but it was no use stopping the involuntary action. "Would you fancy a lap dance? I can't say I've had a lot of practice, so I do need someone to help me test my skills."

"Yes," she emphatically said without hesitation. "Yes, I would."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd include the fun facts for this chapter, but a) there aren't too many to include and b) I wanted to get this chapter out like yesterday. It's late and I really want to post this. I'll include the trivia later when I have some more time. But as always, let me know what you think in the comments (even if you hate it), and feel free to ask about any trivia you might want to know.
> 
>  **FUN FACTS:**  
>  * Yatsu is gay. Didn't have a way to bring it up in the chapter, so I thought I'd release it here.  
> * The reason Velvet knows about Jaune's issues is that she gave him pity sex once before thinking he couldn't be that bad. She was very wrong.  
> * Fox's hair is actually dyed red rather than naturally that color.  
> * Blake has killed in the past, too. Ruby isn't the only one.


	17. Caught in the Wrong Places

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cinder puts on her performance, and Weiss prepares to drop the news to her parents. After an incident at the club, a new criminal makes an appearance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final thing I'm posting of 2018. I know it's been a long time coming and I want to thank you guys for being patient.
> 
> I'll also let you know I added some scenes to the beginning and end of the last chapter, so if you haven't seen them, check those out first.
> 
> Without further ado, here's chapter 17.

Weiss sat in the back of her limo with Yang. She already told Pyrrha where she'd be. (They always had to keep tabs on each other.) Weiss shifted in the seat and stared out the window, nervous about the meeting. Yang looked over, sensing that this would probably be a difficult task to accomplish. "You alright?" Yang asked.

Weiss snapped out of her train of thought and looked at Yang. "Huh?" she replied.

"You seem a bit… well… kinda –"

"Nervous beyond all belief? Yeah, I figured I wasn't doing a good job of hiding it." She went back to looking out the window.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I'll be by your side. That's why you brought me here, isn't it?"

Weiss nodded. "Yeah… it is."

"Trust me. You'll be fine. We'll just get the cop stuff out of the way first and then you can ask about your thing."

Weiss suddenly got a call. She looked at it and saw that it was from Coco. "Hey, Coco," she said as she answered the phone.

"Weiss, baby!" she replied. "I'm so glad to hear that you're finally making the jump."

"Yeah, it's kinda scary at this point, but I'm ready now."

"Trust me. You'll feel a lot better once you get it out."

"Thanks. By the way, how's Neptune?"

"Well, he's definitely in for a treat tonight. Don't worry."

Weiss chuckled. "Alright. Send him my regards."

"No problem."

 

As Coco hung up, she pulled on a strap-on harness as Neptune was bent over the bed. "Now just stay there and relax."

"You know," Neptune said, "I definitely never expected to be doing this."

"Well, every guy I've tried it with ends up liking it, so you'll be in good hands," Coco smirked as she grabbed his ass.

 

* * *

 

Ruby and Blake were preparing their home for their impending visitors. "I cannot believe," Blake said, "that you invited Weiss fucking Schnee of all people to our home."

"I definitely wasn't expecting this," Ruby replied, "like… ever."

"Well, I can make some tea for us if that'll work."

"Just don't try too hard. Remember, she's just someone giving us information about this case. That's all this is."

"Of course. You're right… but do you still think I could get her autograph?"

"You can try," Ruby said, giggling under her breath, "but I wouldn’t get your hopes up too high for that." Blake laughed at Ruby's comment. "By the way, she said she's bringing someone with her, so make four cups."

"Got it, honey." Her phone rang and she saw that Penny was calling her. "What's up?" she said as she answered the call.

"I just wanted to inform you that Ren is getting ready to go forward with the deal."

"Great. If anything goes wrong, let me know."

"Don't worry, Sargent! I'll keep a watchful eye on your partner."

"Thanks. I'm sorry I couldn't be there, but I'm sure you guys can handle it."

 

* * *

 

Taurus started throwing things around his office in one of his regular tantrums. The Albains had just informed them of Nia's true affiliations he was, unsurprisingly, not happy about this. But they remained calm as they watched their boss' tantrum. "THAT LITTLE SLUT! HOW FUCKING DARE SHE BETRAY ME?!" He picked up his chair and tossed it into the wall, managing to break some parts off it. "And that fucking snake Torchwick thinks he can pull the wool over my eyes?!"

"Mr. Taurus," Corsac said, "would you need us to kill her or bring you to her?"

"Don't kill her!" He remembered the photos Cinder had and he wasn't planning on letting her use that as leverage. "And you don't need to bring her. She'll come back. And I'll take care of it myself."

Another worker entered the office. "Mr. Taurus, the new –"

Before he could finish his sentence, a few shots to the chest from his employer cut him off. Taurus had a deranged look in his eye as he held the smoking gun. "Can you two gentlemen take this guy out? And if he lives, remind him to fucking knock next time!"

The Albains simply looked at each other before carrying the bleeding man out of Taurus' office.

 

* * *

 

Blake poured out some tea for Weiss and Yang. "I must say," Blake said with some hesitation in her voice, "it's not every day that you have a celebrity over to your house."

Weiss chuckled and replied, "Please. Don't be like that. I'm just a regular person."

As Yang picked up her tea, she said under her breath, "A regular person with billions of dollars to her name." Weiss side-eyed Yang as the latter started to take a sip.

"Either way," Ruby said, "We're glad you're willing to assist in the investigation. So, you said that Qrow Branwen might have something shady going on?"

"Possibly," Weiss answered. "I tried to make a deal with him and he immediately shot it down. I hadn't even described what we could do, and he just tried to end it there."

"I mean, we've been trying to connect him to his sister for years, but he's clean. At least, on the surface. We're gonna need a bit more than conjecture to really get anything worthwhile."

"I don't know. I'm just noticing something fishy."

"It'd be a longshot. Honestly, I wouldn't recommend harassing Mr. Branwen unless it was absolutely necessary. I'm sorry, Ms. Schnee, but I don't think we could work with this."

Weiss looked down at her lap. "I understand. I'm… sorry I couldn’t be more help."

"Don't worry. We're taking any leads you have. If you can get any evidence that we can work with, then I'd be happy to take it."

Weiss nodded. "I will."

After a moment of silence, Yang picked up her teacup. "So…" she said, "isn't there something else that you wanted to mention?" She took a sip, looking at everyone in else in the room.

"Oh, yes," she said, caught off guard. She remembered the reason she wanted to discuss this at the officers' apartment. "I, uh… I have been really…" She sighed as her face turned red. "Dammit, I really don't know how to say this." Blake and Ruby were confused by her choice of words. "It's something you two might know… It's about my marriage."

"Oh!" Blake exclaimed. "Do you need a recommendation for the planning? If so, we really didn't have a big wedding, so –"

"Not that. I'm actually planning on… calling it off."

The married couple's eyes widened. "Oh… uh… I don't think we could –"

"Wait for it," Yang interjected.

Weiss hesitated after Yang's bluntness. "The reason why is… because I'm actually a lesbian."

"Oh," Blake said. "That is something we could relate to. What's your reason for hiding it?"

"My parents. Don't get the wrong idea! They do love me, but… there was a lot of pressure from them to have grandkids. Obviously, you can see why that's an issue. So, when I realized it, I wasn't sure how to tell them I was gay. I've already told Neptune, but I'm still a bit nervous to share it with my parents. I don't wanna disappoint them."

"Well," Ruby replied, "if they love you, then it shouldn't be a problem. I know my dad wasn't originally on board, but my mom is bi, so she brought him around."

Blake added, "My parents were surprised, but they supported me at least. Especially when I met Ruby and they saw how much we loved each other." Ruby held her hand as she said that.

"All I can say is that you have to rip the band-aid off quick. It won't get any easier the longer you wait."

Weiss then asked, "Is there anything I should say?"

"If they give you trouble, just put your foot down and tell them how things are going to be. You have your own fortune, so it's not like they can kick you out if you say anything."

 

* * *

 

Penny sat in the police car as she watched the deal. She watched as Ren approached Mickey Bellerose in his van. The man stepped out and swaggered over to the undercover officer. "Hey, Sean!" he declared, grinning from ear to ear. "So, you made it after all. I was getting worried you wouldn't be able to make the deal."

"Don't worry, Mick," Ren replied. "I'm not backing out of this deal. Too important." Ren raised the bag of money he was carrying. Thankfully, they were able to find some money seized in a drug bust. "Got the cash. What do ya got for me?"

"Oh, you're gonna love it." Mickey pulled out one of the crates in his van and pulled it onto the ground. "These babies are fucking great! All the way from China." He pulled out one of the guns and saw that they were the same model as what the burglars had. "This is the high-tech shit. Carbon fiber body. Definitely worth the price."

"Where'd you get 'em?"

"I have a couple of suppliers, but I'm not really in the mood to disclose such information."

"C'mon, Mick. Don't leave me hanging."

Mickey chuckled. "Well, I could give you a little hint. I hear that the guns come all the way from the top."

"You mean…"

"That's right. Fire queen herself. She knows how to get good guns. I got them through a middleman. Not getting anywhere near that crazy bitch."

"Well, I'd definitely want to, so you might need to tell me…" Ren pulled out his badge and his gun. "…because you're under arrest for selling illegal weapons." Mickey's eyes widened as he saw this.

As soon as Penny saw the badge come out, she exited the car and drew her own weapon. "Stay right where you are, Mr. Bellerose!" she declared. "You have the right to remain silent."

"Come on, man!" Mickey cried out as Penny slapped the handcuffs on him and continued reading him his rights. "This is ridiculous!"

The officers took Mickey to their vehicle. "Two guns that you sold were involved in an attempted robbery."

"How would you know?!"

Ren answered, "Jamal sold you out. Don’t try to deny it." Ren got on the radio and called for backup. "We got the perp and we've got a stash of weapons for pickup."

"Ruby's definitely going to be happy about this," Penny noted as she shut the back door.

 

* * *

 

Kali was sitting in her bed naked while looking at more case files. She was waiting for Ghira to return to bed after his shower. She was looking for more cases wherever Harvey Hart was involved with the defense, trying to find any connections. It wasn't long until Ghira walked in, dripping wet as he tried to dry himself off. "Did you find anything yet?" he asked.

"A few things, Kali answered. "This Hart guy seems to be involved in a number of mob-related cases. If I didn't know any better, I'd say it was a very unfortunate coincidence."

"How many cases?"

"At least six so far."

As soon as he was dried, he sat on the bed, his massive frame making it sink lower. "There aren't too many lawyers that would involve themselves in so many organized crime cases."

"Well, there are still more to search through, so we might find some kind of pattern."

"We can worry about that later." He started to gather the papers left on the bed and put them on the nightstand. "For now…" He leaned in closer to his wife with a smirk. "…why don't we enjoy ourselves for a little bit?"

Kali smiled as Ghira's large hand gingerly caressed her cheek. "It has been a long week." She leaned closer to kiss him and he pinned her to the bed. Kali moaned as her husband thrust into her. "Looking to piss off the neighbors again?"

"That all depends on you," he replied with a grin.

Kali's hands explored the muscles of Ghira's back. Even in his sixties, he was still in amazing shape. "Then you better get started."

 

* * *

 

Cinder was backstage putting on her a sleeveless catsuit and heels. She was wearing a domino mask and putting on her outfit for her performance, zipping it up halfway down her cleavage. She spent some time stretching before she was called out to the stage. If she was honest with herself, any opportunity to show off her body. She was more than proud of it and frankly thought others should appreciate it. However, she only let a select few have a touch. She wasn't going to be too generous.

Mercury and Emerald waited for her while she was backstage. "What was the name she chose to use?" he asked.

"I think it was Ella," Emerald answered.

"Of course, she would," he muttered. "When she's done, meet me out back."

"Wait," she exclaimed as he left. "Where are you going?"

"And now," the announcer called out, "Give it up for Ella!"

As the crowd cheered for her, Cinder sauntered on stage, accentuating the movements of her hips as she smirked at the audience. She grabbed the first pole and crouched down to let all the viewers have a look down her cleavage. She kept herself bent over as she straightened out her legs, showing off her butt in the process. She reached under one of her arm-length gloves and slowly pulled it down, tossing it on the ground as she went to do the same with the other. She wrapped one of her legs around the pole and started spinning, holding herself up with her thighs alone.

She effortlessly slid down and continued sashaying along the catwalk as she pulled down the zipper, revealing her bra. The crowd went wild for it. She dropped the top part of her suit and crawled towards Emerald with a predatory gaze, enticing her further. As she went back, she stood up and slowly started pulling down the lower half of her suit, revealing a black thong. How it was designed made it easy to slip the opening of her legs past the high heels. She kicked away the suit. Emerald had been watching the other girls and she had to say that they couldn't compare to Cinder's grace. They didn't have the same kind of confident elegance that her employer possessed.

Every move only reinforced the idea that it was Cinder who was in control and she wasn't some dime-a-dozen piece of meat for the patrons' enjoyment. You were privileged to see her in her glory. Even as she started shaking her ass for the audience, she didn't give them too long to take everything in. slowly reached for the clasp of her bra and meticulously started unhooking it to keep everyone in suspense. Even as it unclipped, she still held on to the cups to cover her breasts. She was waiting for the crowd to cheer more for her. As they all goaded her to finally take the top off, she looked at Emerald. The latter knew what she was asking, and she nodded.

With that, the bra came off, causing an uproar as she released her pasty-covered breasts. And on that note, she beckoned Emerald with her finger before going backstage. Emerald knew that was her cue to leave with the crew.

"Alright," the announcer said, "now, let's give a warm welcome to our next lovely lady, Destiny!" He held his hand out to present the girl… and no one came. He wasn't sure what was going on. "Destiny!" he called out again, waiting for the girl to come out. He looked backstage. "Destiny?"

A stagehand came out and whispered, "She's on her way."

Suddenly, he started hearing screaming from the audience. Sure enough, she was on her way out, stumbling, moaning in pain… and skinned alive from her neck to her ankles. Only the skin on her hands was left in between. Blood dripped from her exposed muscles and she ended up falling to the stage. People started running away, others started vomiting, and a select few tried taking pictures.

Junior was horrified, but he had an idea of who was responsible for this.

 

* * *

 

Weiss called prepared to call her parents on video chat. Her phone was shaking in her hand. "I don't know about this," Weiss said.

Ruby assured her, "Just be yourself."

Weiss nodded. Soon, her father came on the line. "Weiss! Sweetie!" he said. "Lovely to see you after so long."

She smiled and replied, "Hey, Dad."

"I heard about you funding that woman's campaign. I must say I never would've expected this. That's amazing."

She smiled. "Thanks, but… there's something I wanted to tell you."

Jacques was confused. "What is it, darling?"

"Uh… is Mom there?"

"She is. I'll go get her." He looked off to the side as he took the phone with him. "Willow, honey! Weiss is on the phone!"

Willow soon came on-screen. "Weiss!" she said. "How lovely to see you!"

"Hello, Mom," Weiss replied. "How are things?"

"We're doing fine."

"Well," Jacques said, "Weiss said she had something to tell us."

"What is it?"

She forced down her nerves and tried to tell them what she planned on saying. "I had to say… I'm having a change of plans for the wedding."

"Oh! Well, I understand if you need to move the date. That campaign business might –"

"No, I mean… I'm calling off the engagement."

Her parents' eyes widened. "What?" he replied. "Why? What happened with Neptune? Isn't he a good man?"

"He is, but… it's not him. It's me."

"Well, I understand focusing on your career, but shouldn't you find a man to settle down with?"

"I don't want a man, though."

"Why not?" Willow asked.

She inhaled and prepared to drop the news. "Because I’m gay."

Her parents were speechless. "Really? What, how long have you –"

"Ever since I was young, I've known. The reason I never told you was that I overheard a conversation you were having about being afraid I wouldn't have kids. By the beginning of my career… and it was the night I finally decided to confess."

Her parents' hearts sank when they realized that they made her hide who she was. "I wanted to just marry Neptune so you would be happy, but then he started falling for me and I couldn't break his heart. And… it made things more difficult."

"Well, what did he say about this?" Willow asked. "Did you tell him?"

"I did. And… he's taking it well…"

"Well?" she replied, unconvinced.

"I mean, as well as he could at least. He doesn't have any hard feelings against me at least."

Jacques looked down and said, "I see…"

"I'm so sorry I lied to you guys… I never intended for any of this to happen."

"No," Willow said, "don't apologize for being who you are. If anything… we should apologize for making you feel that way."

Jacques added, "We just wanted you to be happy and… we weren't going to force you into this if your career kept you from having kids. We just… it's just that we were worried about not having grandkids later. In fact, as your career grew, we were fine with you taking your time on it. And… now it seems that it may not happen."

"I mean, I could always adopt," Weiss answered. "Or sperm donation. Something like that."

"Weiss, honey," Willow interrupted. "We don't want you to feel pressure to have kids because of us. It's like your song said."

A tear fell down her eye as she remembered the lyric her mother was thinking of, "…this life is mine."

"And it always has been." Ruby smiled as she watched the touching moment.

"Like with your career," Jacques added, "don't let us hold you back. We will always love you."

Weiss wiped the tears from her eyes. "Thank you. I love you, too."

"When will you be announcing that the engagement is off?"

"I'll probably post something on Twitter. No need to make a big deal out of it."

"We understand."

"I hope to see you soon." Her parents waved goodbye. She did the same as she hung up. She exhaled as she slumped back on the couch.

"Quite the load off," Blake said, "isn't it?"

"You have no idea."

Ruby's phone rang and she saw that it was Penny. "Hold on, guys," she said. "I've gotta take this privately." She left to her room and answered the call.

Yang looked over and said, "I just wanna let you guys know, I'm the token straight person here. I was just here for emotional support."

"Wait, then how do you know Weiss?" Blake asked.

"I'm a sex worker and she's a rich lesbian. Take a guess, officer."

"Oh… Wait. If you're straight –"

"A girl's gotta make a living. Honestly, if you and your wife wouldn't mind, I'd be willing to give a police discount."

Blake chuckled. "As tempting as that offer sounds, we're good on our own."

Yang smirked and said, "Please, I noticed you looking at my tits. And I don't blame you."

 

In the other room, Ruby talked to Penny. "Hey, how'd the bust go?"

"It went quite well," Penny reported. "We got the suspect and we'll be interrogating him soon."

"Well, don't go too hard on him."

"However, that isn't what I wanted to discuss with you."

"What is it, then?"

"Ren informed me of someone returning to Vale. I was wondering if you knew who this was."

Ruby's brow furrowed. "Who returned?"

 

* * *

 

Nia was riding on top of Torchwick, moaning loudly as she rubbed her hips into his crotch. Torchwick grabbed her hips to keep her steady. "Yeah, that's right," Torchwick said. "Just like that, Nia."

"I gotta say…" Nia moaned, "…it's pretty nice getting to fuck you again… instead of that animal…" She leaned in closer to whisper to him. "Even without legs, you're much more fun."

"I do hope having to fuck the Bull hasn't been too much of a hassle."

"He's not bad, I'll give him that. If he didn't spend his time raping his supply or being a maniac, I'm sure he could get a girl."

Suddenly, Torchwick got a call. "Hello?" Nia watched and saw his face contort to one of frustration. "What happened?!" Nia stopped her motions, wondering what was concerning her employer. "She's on the way?... Okay, good." Roman hung up and turned back to Nia. "I don't remember asking you to stop."

"What happened?" she asked as she moved her hips once again.

"Let's just say that I'm pretty sure it's Cinder's fault. One of the dancers was skinned alive."

"Shit, man."

"Unfortunately, the police got there, so there's no way I could get any of her organs for ourselves."

"Does this mean I've gotta stop screwing your brains out so that you can take care of this?"

"Absolutely not," he answered with a smirk. "I've got someone to handle that."

Nia's grin widened. "Well, that's perfect." She latched onto him and started bouncing on his pelvis hard enough to rock the bed. "Because I'm going to destroy you tonight."

"Enthusiastic! I like it!"

 

* * *

 

Two police officers started talking to Junior about what happened. "I'm not sure," he said. "I didn't really see anyone who came in here that woulda did it. I don't know every psycho in this town."

One of the officers said, "But this establishment is owned by Roman Torchwick, is it not? Are you sure there aren't any other bad actors here?"

"I've only known Mr. Torchwick to be a respectable businessman. Nothing more. And I wouldn't know if he had any associates that would be this cruel. He doesn't associate with such people. It's beneath him."

"Junior," a female voice called out, "if you really wanna get to kissin' that pretty boy's ass, I recommend gettin' some kneepads." The owner of the voice, a hefty blonde woman with a southern accent, approached them. "Wouldn't want those nice pants of yours to get all scuffed up, would ya?"

"Excuse me, ma'am," the officer asked, "but who are you?"

The woman held out her hand. "The name's Jennifer Malachite. Pleased to make your acquaintance, officer." She shook both their hands. "I'm the one who's actually runnin' this establishment. My dear Torchwick only handles the bills. If you have any inquiries 'bout this incident, direct them to me." She gave a confident smirk, letting them know who was truly in charge of the situation. "My nieces work here for Junior and I was comin' in to say hello, but then I got the call when some sick bastard came in and… well, I'm sure the details are clear."

"Would you happen to know any possible suspects?"

"Unfortunately, I haven't the slightest idea, but you can contact me about any details as soon as possible."

"Auntie Jen?!" the twins shouted.

Malachite turned to her nieces. "Why hello there, sugars. Did you miss me?" She gave them each a kiss on their cheeks. "I do hope that Junior here has been a good employer." The girls nodded. "Now, officers, if you don't have any more questions for me, darlin', I need to talk to my girls alone. Come on, now." She herded the twins and Junior over to a corner to talk to them privately. "So, Junior, mind explainin' what the hell's going on?"

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I'm just askin' you when you decided to let Cinder into this establishment."

"How could you possibly know that?"

"Well, I did find this." She reached into her cleavage and pulled out a wrapper for a small condom. Junior's face went bright red. "Thank goodness you got rid of the actual condom 'cause you definitely don't wanna be caught on something as stupid as that, then I woulda had to slap that beard off your face. And I only know one person who would fuck you with a dick that small."

"Look, Little Miss, I can explain."

Little Miss held her hand up in front of his face before he could explain. "Save it. Just be glad I don't report you to Torchwick for this. I'll just say it was some lunatic that the twins killed."

"You need a fall-guy?"

"It would help." She turned to her nieces. "Girls, kill whoever Junior gives ya and present them to Torchwick." The girls nodded. "And Junior?" She pulled on his tie and brought his face closer to hers. "Don't make me regret covering your sorry ass."

 

* * *

 

"Little Miss Malachite," Ruby said, back at the station with Penny and Ren. "She left two years ago. And she was heavily associated with the Branwen drug trade."

"She fled the city?" Penny asked.

"Not exactly. Apparently, she had some connections in the DA's office. They cleared her of any charges connecting to her connection to the trade. My guess is she's been out of town trying to build legitimate business ties to keep her tracks looking clean."

"Do you think she maimed that woman?"

"I doubt it," Ren added. "If she's trying to lay low and stay legit, she wouldn't be caught dead doing something so public. Especially something this gruesome."

"Yeah, that was pretty brutal… did you –"

"No, Penny," Ruby said, cutting her off. "We don't have pictures of it."

Penny snapped her fingers. "Shoot."

"My only question is what is she doing back? I'm a little confused. Especially with Kahn running. She'd wanna stay as far away from this as possible."

"Maybe she just wanted a fresh start," Ren speculated. "She didn't feel that she was in any danger because she wasn't."

"Doesn't make up for her previous crimes. And there's also the distressing detail of who skins a stripper alive and sends her out on stage. We already got the lunatic in custody."

"The Panda Killer may be sloppy, but he wouldn't do something so publicly," Penny stated.

"Do you have to keep calling him that?"

Penny continued, "He just kills his targets. No sadism involved. Not like this. This was someone who specifically relishes in the suffering of others."

"You're sure?" Ren asked.

"Why else would the girl still be left alive when she was pushed out? Putting someone through that much pain is premeditated and planned. Not some random attack."

Ruby suddenly had a very good idea of who could have done this. And she wasn't happy about this revelation. "Cinder."

 

* * *

 

Nia returned home after her time with Torchwick. Whatever mess was going on at the strip club, she decided to let him take care of it on his own once he was done with him. She turned on the lights in her apartment... and saw Taurus sitting in the room, startling her. "Oh, fuck!" she screamed. "You scared the shit out of me."

"You should be scared," he replied, stepping closer to her slowly.

Nia was confused as to what he could possibly mean."What's going on?"

"As he loomed over her, he only said the words, "I know you're working with Torchwick."

"What? No, I'm not." She was confused as to how he could possibly know any of that, but she wasn't giving herself away that easy.

Taurus, however, was having none of it and backhanded her. "Don't **fucking** lie to me! I had my men watching you and they saw you going to that crippled cocksucker's base!"

She rubbed her cheek from the sting of his slap. "So, you're having people babysit me now? I know I look small, but I can take care of my-" She didn't even finish her sentence before he grabbed her by the hair and threw her on the ground. "What the h**l, dude!"

He crouched down and kept punching her. "You think you can get away with lying to me?! Did you really believe that?!"

There was no reasoning with him now, and she knew that. So, she decided to spite him instead. "I mean, I kinda did for a while now." This earned another punch from Taurus.

"You're not getting away with doublecrossing me."

Nia only chuckled. "Go ahead. Do your worst. All the beatings you could ever give me would be better than having to take your dick every time I need to grab a girl."

Unfortunately for her, this only gave him an idea. "Is that right?" He got a firm grasp on her throat as he pinned her down and started unbuckling her belt. Even as strong as she was, she still wasn't able to release herself from his grip.

"Get off of me!" she tried to scream. But it was no use when he started raping her. _If she really hated this so much_ , he thought, _then this is a fitting punishment._

 

* * *

 

Cinder spent time in her bedroom with Mercury pounding into her while Emerald sat on her face. She was so turned on by skinning the girl alive that she needed time to relieve the tension. And she decided to let Emerald in on the fun.

"You know, Cinder," Mercury said, "maybe you shouldn't have brought Emerald in here. She's much bustier than you. You might lose your fuckbuddies if I decide to go for her."

Emerald groaned in frustration and replied, "Shut up, Mercury."

"Oh, so you don't swing that way? That's a shame."

"Shut up, Mer…" She moaned as Cinder dragged her tongue along her crotch.

She tried to get her to keep quiet so she could focus on her pleasure and the thought of the girl from earlier. The blood dripping down her muscles, her screams as she and Mercury peeled the skin from her body… her bloodlust was intensifying her sexual lust so much that she was almost to orgasm. She moaned into Emerald's crotch and dug her nails into the black woman's thighs, causing the latter to gasp from the unexpected pain. Cinder wrapped her legs around Mercury and pulled him in closer as she came.

She panted heavily as she pushed Emerald off her face. "Fuck… I **really** needed that. Though, Mercury does bring up a good point." Cinder rolled over and looked up at Emerald. "I would love to see you two together. It wouldn't be too much of a problem, would it, darling?"

"Honestly," Emerald replied, "I'd rather not."

"So, you're only for girls then."

"I… well, I… I mean, I do like guys, too, but –"

"Then what is it about Mercury here? He's quite the fine specimen, and I can tell you he'd have you screaming in no time."

"She's not wrong, you know," he added with a smug smirk.

Emerald rolled her eyes. "Well, you're definitely lacking in the personality department."

"Come on, Emmy," Cinder said. "Have a little fun." Her phone rang and cut off the conversation. She was surprised when she looked at the ID. "Hm. Didn't know she was back in town. I'll take this and you guys have a little fun." Emerald was reluctant, but she let Mercury have sex with her as long as she knew Cinder was watching. Cinder sat in a chair off to the side and answered the call. "Well, well, well. If it isn't Not-So-Little Miss Malachite. To what do I owe the pleasure of speaking to you again, Jen?"

"Cinder," she replied, "I know you were at the club tonight. Skinnin' a girl alive like you was tryin' to save her hide for a rug or somethin'."

Cinder shrugged as she started masturbating to the sight of Mercury and Emerald. "Why do you care?"

"Well, considerin' I'm officially runnin' this place, I'd say that it's of my concern."

"Oh, you're the one running it? I thought it was Torchwick."

"Little Roman handles the money. I'm the one who keeps that dump in shape."

Cinder chuckled. "Jen, this is all fascinating, but what does this have to do with me exactly?"

"You were in my club. You were trespassin' and I ain't too happy about that."

"I'm sure some of the guys were though. It's amazing what you can get away with when you're good at pole-dancing. Having an amazing ass and decently-sized tits, both all natural, definitely help."

"You really think yer bein' cute?"

Cinder smirked and replied, "Bitch, I'm adorable."

"Just remember to watch yer back."

"Oh…" She looked up at her subordinates having sex in front of her. "I'll be watching something for sure." She hung up and continued watching.

 

* * *

 

Pyrrha spent some time hanging out with Jaune's friends at Dylan's house. They shared many embarrassing stories. Most of them about Jaune, much to his embarrassment. Fox said, "And as soon as the van stopped, he jumped out and started projectile vomiting all over the side of the road. It was insane."

Everyone but Jaune and Pyrrha laughed heartily. Pyrrha chuckled, but Jaune blushed. "You guys know I get carsick!"

"Hey, it's less embarrassing than the time Yatsu's ex-boyfriend got so drunk he fell off the top of the car naked."

Yatsu replied, "He's lucky I'm strong."

Dylan added, "Isn't that the reason you guys broke up? Or was it something else?"

"I'd rather not talk about it."

"You don't talk much as it is. Come on, man! You can't just sit there."

"Well," Velvet began, "if he doesn't want to talk, then that's fine. Silence is an important skill. One you definitely are lacking." Everyone else laughed, but Dylan flipped her off. "I'm serious. If I ever got arrested, I would not want you to be my partner in crime because the right to remain silent would be lost on you."

"I'm not a snitch! I keep all your dirty secrets!"

"But if your life depended on it, would you keep quiet."

"I don’t think the things you want me to hide are high-stakes information."

Jaune chuckled and said, "Yeah, it's not like you have much room to talk for giving me away in the coffee shop."

"Hey," Velvet exclaimed, "hey, I just wanna make sure she knows what she's getting into if you try to make a move on her."

Dylan took the opportunity hit on Pyrrha. "Well, I can tell you I don't have that problem at all." He winked and Pyrrha looked at her lap.

Jaune sensed the awkwardness and decided to help. (The irony of him diffusing an awkward situation was not lost on him.) "Hey, Pyrrha," he said, "want me to get you something to drink?"

"I'll go with you," she replied. "I wanna see what you have."

As the pair left, Dylan yelled out, "Cockblock!"

In the kitchen, Jaune pulled her to the side. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it," Jaune replied. "I know how he is."

"It's fine. It's nothing new. I get this sort of thing all the time."

"Doesn't make it right."

"You get used to it." Pyrrha rubbed her shoulder. "There's not much you can do about it."

"Well, if he knew what your real job was, it'd be a lot worse."

"I didn’t mind my job. I was hiding it for you."

His eyebrows raised. "For me?"

"I didn't want your friends to make fun of you for it."

"They pushed me into this. They know –"

"If you just brought a sex worker just as…" She stopped herself from calling herself his date. "…someone to hang out with you, I thought you'd be embarrassed."

He was actually somewhat touched by the gesture. "Pyrrha… you don't have to do that. You could've said the truth. I mean, I appreciate the gesture, but you didn't need to."

She leaned against the counter, contemplating this. Ruining the moment, Dylan yelled out, "You're taking a pretty long time to get a drink! You better not be making her suck you off in my kitchen!"

Jaune rolled his eyes. "Look," he said, "you can tell them the truth. It'll be okay."

Pyrrha nodded. "Jaune?" she replied. "There's… something I wanted to tell you."

"What is it?"

This was it. This was her chance. She was going to finally tell him. Make it official. "… I…"

A loud banging on the door made both of them jump. "Police!" a voice shouted. "Open up!"

"What?!" Jaune exclaimed.

They went back out and saw Cardin at the front door as Velvet opened it. "We're looking for Dylan Mathers. Where is he?"

Velvet was in shock as he looked back. Guilt was written plainly on his face. "Dylan," Velvet shouted, "what the fuck did you do?!"

"I'll let him save his breath." Cardin pushed past Velvet to get Dylan. "Your friend here has been trafficking illegal drugs. One of your partners sold you out. You're in big trouble, kid."

As Cardin cuffed Dylan, another officer asked, "Do you know this man?"

Fox answered, "Unfortunately, yes. But we didn't know about this shit."

Cardin roughly pulled him to his feet. "Easy, there!" Dylan said. "Police brutality much?!"

"You have the right to remain silent. I suggest you use it." He looked back at everyone and said, "Bring the rest of them in. Let's see what they know."

The rest of them reacted with various levels of shock. They were horrified, muttering about how this couldn't possibly be happening, but Jaune and Pyrrha were speechless. None of them protested being taken to cop cars, but they would be lying if they said they weren’t scared out of their minds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **FUN FACTS:**  
>  * I'm really upset I started this before Little Miss came on the show! There is so much I could have done with her before this point! I don't wanna give away too much about her since it will be revealed in later chapters.  
> * Decided to not make Jacques a jerk in this story. I thought that it would be a nice change of pace.  
> * Cinder's stripper outfit is actually her spy suit from "Dance Dance Infiltration."  
> * The skinning scene is actually a reference to the Brian Azzarello graphic novel _Joker_. The eponymous character did this to a rival mob boss who infringed on his turf.  
>  * Nia actually did sometimes enjoy sex with Taurus. She just said she didn't just to spite him, not knowing he'd actually rape her. (By the way, remember that she is also a serial rapist, so don't feel too bad for her. You can have some sympathy, but let's be real. She was a scumbag, too.)  
> * Yes, that was a DBZA reference. (Those who have watched it will know.)  
> * No, Dylan wasn't falsely arrested by Cardin, he legit was dealing drugs.
> 
> That's all I've got for now. I don't know when I'll be updating anything on here (probably not any time soon), but I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I wish you all a happy 2019. :)


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